Faith Enduring
by orientalbunny
Summary: What if the whole Labyrinth was created by Sarah? Even its citizens? And how would they react if they knew that their very lives rest in her confused hands? JxS of course.
1. The Return Home

Faith Enduring

Disclaimer: I do not own the Labyrinth or its characters; they are property of Jim Henson, Lucas Films, and Dennis Lee. This fanfiction is not made for profit in anyway; it is only further proof of my love for the movie and that I have an overactive imagination.

Chapter One

The hour was past late and goblins and fireys slumped against each other at the foot of Sarah's bed. Ludo tried to sit down without hitting any of Sarah's furniture and only knocked over a few of her books off her book self.

"Sorry," he drawled, then suddenly yawned; he sat down with a soft thump as his eyes immediately drooped.

Sarah smiled and looked at the huge orangey brown furred monster with a soft look of affection. She turned with that same smile towards Hoggle and Sir Didymus as they wearily battled each other on her scrabble game. She draped a small blanket around Ludo's shoulders as she listened to her two friend's debate with half interest.

"Jzubler is not a word," Hoggle grumbled tiredly.

Sir Didymus crossed his arm over his chest still holding his riding crop making a half cross over his heart, "On my honor – it is!"

The small knight was about to launch into a lengthy explanation that a jzubler was a foot tall weed that secreted a yellow sap excellent for saddle polish when Sarah crouched near and stopped his tirade. Sleepy gazes turned to her with a strange mix of weariness and trepidation.

"It's late," Sarah whispered. It was later than late, she knew, their private party had started at midnight and it was past three. Thankfully it was Saturday and she didn't have to wake up early in the morning for school.

"Sarah…" Hoggle asked with a strange look of anxiety, "Could we stay here? Just until you fall asleep?"

Sarah smiled looking round, indicating that most of the inhabitants sleeping soundly near and even on her bed, gave her little choice. Sarah hugged Hoggle and kissed Sir Didymus on the top of his blue hat, saying, "Of course."

Sarah stood tall and stretched, throwing her arms over her head to get a crick out before exiting the door.

"I'm thirsty, want anything?"

Her two friends shook their heads as she walked out, quickly closing the door in case her dad or step mom might see into her room.

Hoggle sighed and pushed the game board to the side.

"What happened, Sir Didymus?"

Sir Didymus examined his paws as if seeing them with new eyes before he too sighed with something close to frustration.

"Verily…I know not. In all likelihood she was not supposed to need us anymore. I know not who to pray or thank for this…" he paused trying to think of the right word and finally settled on: "extension."

"My home," Hoggle whispered, suddenly fingering the trinkets at his side. One of his dearly beloved "properties" was a large grimy key, supposedly to unlock the front door of his cottage outside the labyrinth walls.

"Was it ever really ours to begin with?" Sir Didymus's question rankled something in Hoggle's gut but he remained passive, trying to continue the conversation quickly before Sarah returned.

"Do we tell her how…everything is uncertain?" Suddenly he was afraid. What would happen once Sarah fell asleep? Where would he go? Where would they all go? Did Sarah understand what happened? If she found out…would he…die?

Hoggle suddenly looked at Sarah's vanity mirror, wondering if there was anything for them to return to, or if touching its smooth surface was as futile gesture as he supposed. Maybe…just maybe…

Sir Didymus sadly saw the look of eager curiosity on his friend's face and lowered his gaze so as not to see that energy suddenly extinguished with his careful words.

"We are not real my friend. Staying here or returning there does not make any difference because in the end…"

Hoggle abruptly finished his friend's sentence before cupping his face with his gnarled hands in defeat, "The Labyrinth does not exist."

x—X—x

Sarah carefully rinsed out a glass (she had previously used earlier in the day) in the sink. It was dark as she had left off the lights so as not to disturb the household. Besides she found that on her return from the Labyrinth everything had a harsh shine that seemed to hurt her eyes. In other words, her life now seemed gaudy in comparison to magical forests and dark foreboding castles.

Even the window before her looked so surreal with thin yellow faded flower curtains narrowing the inky blackness. Her mind wandered even as the water still flowed from the over shiny faucet head.

She had just returned from a long, strange, and even beautiful adventure. The kind she had always longed for as a little girl. In its realms she had found everything she had ever dreamed of, and in doing so found a new inner strength she was not aware she was capable of.

She had rescued her brother from the Goblin King, the tall foreboding, evil King who would have surely done Toby harm. It was better this way than to have inadvertently hurt Toby herself. Wait, "herself," why did she think that?

Her brows furrowed as she tried to continue the insubstantial line of thought. The cup was held loosely in her hand under the warm spray as her mind seemed to tick backward.

She saw herself angrily climbing the stairs to her room, her sanctuary, as she imagined her step mom's angry perfectly made up face.  
"Sarah you're an hour late."

"I said I'm sorry!"

"Please let me finish – you're father and I go out very rarely anymore –

"But every weekend!"

Her stepmother continued despite Sarah's rude interruption. "And I only ask you to baby sit only if it won't interfere with your plans."

Anger blazed in Sarah's gray eyes at her stepmother's words, "Well how would you know you never even ask me anymore!" Sarah turned to run up the stairs only to stop and glare at her stepmother's feeble attempt of an excuse.

"I assumed you would tell me if you had a date, you should have dates at your age."

And nothing else mattered at that moment except for the anger coiled within Sarah and the embarrassment of being scolded, especially when she deserved it. She was late. Her stepmother was justified in scolding her…and she hated it.

Sarah blinked and turned off the tap, but she still stood there, like a perplexed sleepwalker. Why was that moment important? The anger…she remembered, was very potent. Was it because she was chastised like a little girl? No, there was something more. She had wished she had a date, anything, an excuse to show up her step mom. But no boy was interested her at the time. She had wanted a date, a sudden impulse to show that she wasn't in anyway of lesser esteem to this woman. This… _intruder_.

Suddenly in her mind she was holding Toby, rocking him in exaggerated pain. _I hate you,_ her mind screamed. _You don't even look like my dad, you look just like her! It's her blond hair and her blue eyes. And she put you in this ghastly red and white pajama, so stop crying at me! My mother would have chosen something nicer, blue or green. If she were here, Karen wouldn't be here and neither would you! Yes, you shouldn't be here! It should only be me! Just me and dad and…and…_ Her mind whirled in anger. It was her mother who had left but she was talented and she was beautiful and most importantly, she was Sarah's mother.

That's when the pain and anger had bubbled up and reached a boiling point and a plan, a silly wistful longing grew and bloomed in her young mind. Someone evil to take away her problems so she would never have to resort to villainy; someone attractive, who would pay attention to her, to make her feel wanted…

"Once upon a time…" she whispered as the wind howled outside Toby's window and lightning cracked a few miles away.

The wind howled again as if in tribute to that moment only hours ago, as Sarah stood before the kitchen window with a growing sense of unease. She looked up into her faint reflection, the words whispered past her pink lips lost and dying even though its meaning blazed, "But what no one knew was that the king of the goblins had fallen in love with the girl and gave her certain powers…"

Oh, god, understanding hit her like a bolt of lightning. It was all for her. Everything she wanted he HAD done, and in repayment she rejected him, she hurt him. If it weren't for Jareth she would have grown up, containing but continuing the hostility she felt for her step mom and her stepbrother. What kind of life would that have created for her innocent little brother? But Jareth…poor Jareth, he became the interceder, the recipient of her pent up frustrations and hostility. He took the child, he became the villain, and then he was thrown down amidst broken castle walls at her words… the price for living up to her expectations.

Closing her eyes, her head bowed with the pain of knowledge. "I'm so sorry," she whispered, suddenly wishing he could hear her apology.

"Sarah." It was a soft caress of a word that snapped her head up.

Her heart stopped as she saw the dark glass reflect the Goblin King right behind her.

Sarah whipped around, dropping her glass in the process, its crystal sound boomed across the empty room overtaking the loud rapid beat of her heart.

Alone. She was alone. She turned toward the window and again nothing graced its panes but her own panicked expression. _But I saw him! He was there!_

The kitchen light snapped on and Sarah looked up from the pile of wet broken glass to the puzzled face of her dad. _So much for being discreet._

x—X—x

Sarah's hand trembled as she opened her bedroom door. She had just apologized to her father about the glass which had "slipped" out of her hand. She didn't mean to make so much noise at this hour. Her father had only smiled and thanked her again for babysitting Toby tonight. They both poured each other a cup of root beer (their secret favorite) and bid each other good night. It was too weird for Sarah, to have to act so normal right after her scare with Jareth.

Sarah stifled a yawn, and headed straight for her bed, that is after she carefully removed a small goblin from her covers. The soft give of her pillow made her groan in sleepy contentment. Her mind felt fuzzy and sleep deprived and after such a long day of running through a giant maze, Sarah knew she would be asleep in seconds. She was starting to drift when she heard the barest sound of movement. Her eyes opened slightly and the bleary image of Hoggle neared her.

Hoggle gently took her hand, "Shh, go to sleep dear. Everything will be all right now. We all love you."

A small smile graced Sarah's lips as she sleepily mumbled how she loved them too. She could tell him about Jareth tomorrow. Right now, she was so tired.

Hoggle waited a moment, to make sure Sarah was more asleep. He could feel himself starting to fade and knew that Sir Didymus and Ludo also would be slowly hazing into nothingness. He looked down at their joined hands, feeling a sensation he never felt before, a feeling of inevitability.

"Sarah…" he said, and when she didn't answer, he knew she was just about asleep and his words couldn't be heard.

"Sarah, I just wanted to say, I never had a friend before…I never had a home before, and everything we went through…it's more than I ever deserved. It means so much to me that we met. That you chose to forgive me…I'd give all my trinkets to you if it made you happy. I'd give my life for you…

When he couldn't see his legs a shaky hitch of breath escaped his thin lips. He was so afraid, absolutely terrified but he wouldn't cry out. He tried to still his trembling gnarled hand; he didn't want to wake her…Sarah, his only friend.

"I – I just wanted to say, that we do love you. And that there are no hard feelings – in- in case I don't return." He was nearly gone; all that remained of him as Sarah's consciousness faded was his arms and his head. Hoggle looked around and saw that everyone else had disappeared, only he fought to remain just a second longer.

What if he could never come back? What if this was it? She didn't need them anymore and they would just dissolve into cherished memories.

"Sarah," he quietly sobbed, "Sarah" –

Her hand dropped to her side and Sarah slept peacefully.


	2. Through the Dance Hall

Faith Enduring

Disclaimer: I do not own the Labyrinth or its characters; they are property of Jim Henson, Lucas Films, and Dennis Lee. This fanfiction is not made for profit in anyway; it is only further proof of my love for the movie and that I have an overactive imagination.

Chapter Two

Strange subdued laughter gently enveloped her as she stepped into a room both grim and lavish. Gingerly she stepped into the throng, trying not to suffocate from the press of giddy drunk bodies that swayed under feather fringed fans. Why was she here again, among faces that slightly terrified her?

Up hanging from the ceiling was the same giant chandelier, dripping with strings of iridescent pearls and glowing with the soft flare of leaking candle stumps. The walls seemed non-existent. It was as if the room was without borders and the party was limited by the ethereal white curtain of wispy strips of cloth and frayed rope. She wondered that no one strayed beyond the pristine boundary.

A woman in a bony mask dramatically waved her hand as she applied her makeup in an exaggerated flourish. Sarah caught a quick glimpse of herself in the woman's small mirror. Her hair was down, smooth, and totally uninspiring. No silver dangled from her ears, no makeup enhanced her eyes. When she looked down her sneakers competed with the throng of worn leather boots and high heels.

Suddenly the bodies were not shifting and moving erratically but in sweeping couples. Everyone was dancing and Sarah felt an acute loneliness at being denied a partner. It was that feeling that propelled her toward the far end of the room, where the light seemed inadequate.

A dancing couple stopped and one gloved hand took hold of her shoulder. Their masks shook slowly side to side. No voice chided her but their gesture may as well have been a shout. "Don't go there," their eyes screamed.

Sarah shrugged the hand off and pushed forward more aggressively. The throng seemed to thicken in front of her and the feeling of being smothered overwhelmed her senses again. She forced her way into a sea of faded waistcoats, tight ball gowns, and wooden masks and it felt like she was moving in a pool of molasses. Suddenly that sensation, that distinct dream like feeling of being pulled in the opposite direction of where you actually want to go, made her realize that nothing here was real. It was a dream. Only a dream.

Regardless, her hand stretched out before her…so close. She was almost there, her fingertips barely touching what lay beyond that delicate shutter of pallid cloth. The swaying strips parted and her fingers felt smooth resistance, slick as glass. She peered into that dark hand made pocket and it was like looking out into space.

Her eyes narrowed in concentration. The desire to see "him" blazed in her, as fierce as it was sudden, and nothing in the world was as important as that sweet and painful yearning. It was then and only then that his outline emerged, melting from the darkness.

A perfect gasp escaped her throat and misted her view of him. He was so perfect, so utterly strong and arrogant, that to see him hunched over, pathetically touching stone walls in such defeat and sadness tore her apart. _Oh no_, she thought. _What have I done?_

"Jareth…"

She hadn't meant to say his name out loud, it had just happened. But beyond logic, he heard her. He turned looking gaunt, pale and weary. A look of mild surprise graced his face as he pulled himself up, attempting to stand tall and proud…for her. His chest shuddered under the thin white ruffled shirt he wore, cinched at the waist by his black cumber bun. The tight gray leggings encased muscles that slightly trembled. He was trying to say something.

Sarah felt her chest tighten with emotion. It wasn't supposed to be like this. He wasn't supposed to be like this.

He staggered one step toward her, dragging the hidden magic out of him and it seemed to take everything he had. Tears dripped down her eyes at his obvious struggle.

And she heard it. Through the thick glass her name rang soft and crystal clear in her ears, laced with longing…his gift to her.

She threw her hands at the wall, her palms bracing the barrier in panic when he crumpled to the floor. The darkness took on a life of its own as it surged about him. Sarah shrieked and her hands circled around wood. She brought the chair crashing just as the blackness swept him away. All around her screams echoed as she fell into continuous night.

She jumped at the loud knocking at her door.

"Sarah, it's getting pretty late. Karen and I are going to take Toby shopping. If you want we can wait for you to get ready." Her dad paused, wondering if she was still asleep and if she would even want to hang out with them. After all she was a teenager, being invited by Karen and he to spend time together had always seemed distasteful to Sarah in the past. "But if you'd rather stay home…"

She heard the implications and winced. It would take time for them to understand she wasn't like that anymore. "No, dad, I want to come! Can you give me 20 minutes?"

Robert smiled, pleasantly surprised. After all it was nice last night talking with his daughter, even if it was only a few minutes. He was worried he was losing touch with her, since he worked late every day and she seemed to isolate herself in her room. He knew that his marriage to Karen had erected an angry rift between them and that only time would lessen that anger and pain. He was glad Sarah now seemed like, well, like she wanted to be friends again.

"20 minutes is fine," he responded before going back downstairs to help Karen fold laundry. After all, if Sarah was willing to spend time with him and become closer to Toby and Karen, why 20 minutes was…not long at all.

Sarah dropped her head back onto her pillow. She understood her dad's need to reconnect with her but that understanding didn't make her life any easier. Last night when he joked and talked to her as they shared root beer, it had felt so ideal, so trusting. She had wanted so badly to tell him about her adventure, about the labyrinth. And she knew, she could never tell anyone about that world. Never tell anyone about Jareth.

_Jareth_, her frenzied mind lamented. Suddenly his words rang in her ears loud, melodic and painful.

_You starve and near exhaust me. Everything I've done, I've done for you. I move the stars for no one._

His face loomed in her mind, when she saw him in her dream he had looked tired, so very tired. His eyes so sad. His beautiful mismatched eyes.

"Your eyes can so cruel," she whispered feeling her face flush with emotion, "just as I can be so cruel."

Sarah curled in on her side and hugged her pillow to herself. She felt torn between two different worlds, and a feeling of nausea hit her. One world needed her to be a part of a family, while the other crumbled before her eyes in a sea of nothingness.

"Please," she whispered feeling the sting of unshed tears, "please just let it be a dream. Let him be okay." She didn't know who she was speaking to but she waited one more moment to let her words sink in. Knowing she couldn't stay in bed forever, she wiped the back of her hand across her face and with grim determination, got up unsteadily to take her shower.


	3. Crystals Within

Faith Enduring

Disclaimer: I do not own the Labyrinth or its characters; they are property of Jim Henson, Lucas Films, and Dennis Lee. This fanfiction is not made for profit in anyway; it is only further proof of my love for the movie and that I have an overactive imagination.

Chapter Three

"Where are we?" asked Hoggle as he lit a match.

The soft glow wouldn't last long so he quickly looked through his red leather pouch tied to his belt. He found a small carton. Instantly he recognized the little box of birthday candles he snuck out of Sarah's drawer. He smiled as he thought how his thieving habits had once again saved the day, but then realized that surely the candles wouldn't last long.

Sir Didymus scratched his head in puzzlement, walked to the end of their encasement, and rapped his cane upon the shiny plane.

"Hmm. It has a hollow ring to it. I, myself, would warrant a guess that it is made from glass."

Hoggle cursed as the match burned his fingers. He quickly lighted another, the faint scent of sulfur mingled in the air, tickling his nose.

"Here, Sir Didymus, your fingers are small and more nimble, you take the candle out."

Sir Didymus reached his thin fingers into the small carton and pulled out two little candles, one blue, and the other yellow, both striped with white. Hoggle lighted both and held one while Sir Didymus slightly pressed the other on the floor, flattening its wax so it would stand upright. The light was pitiful but preferable over complete darkness.

"Do you remember anything?" Hoggle asked Sir Didymus.

Sir Didymus's whiskers flickered up and down in serious thought. Last he could remember he was talking to Sir Hoggle in Lady Sarah's bedchambers, and feeling his eyes get heavier and heavier with sleep. Next thing he knew he awoke here, in this mysterious confinement along with his brother, Sir Ludo, the brave knight Sir Hoggle, his noble steed Ambrosius, and the strange man mumbling about going backwards and going forward. He told Hoggle this and his friend grimaced.

Hoggle quickly took out a small instrument from his pocket, one specifically meant to examine the surfaces of gems for cracks and imperfections. Squinting into the thumb sized magnifying glass, and holding the candle up close, Hoggle grumbled agreement about the wall looking like glass.

"It reminds me of crystal," he said, pocketing the magnifier.

Ludo lumbered toward the Wiseman snoring away in one corner. The bird on top his head squawked in fright, its beady eyes narrowing as it thrust its head angrily into Ludo's face, now blocking his view of light.

"What are you looking at?" piped the bird-like hat, indignantly.

"Ludo…scared."

The bird shook its head, ruffling the three feathers on its narrow skull. "Ain't no concern of mine," it sniffed. Ludo frowned and felt Sir Didymus's small paw touch his elbow.

"Leave him be, my brother. Come and sit with us."

Ludo still glared at the annoying bird but did as Sir Didymus said, turning toward his friend as they walked to the opposite side scarcely three yards away.

"So quiet," was Ludo's grave reply. At Sir Didymus's questioning look, Ludo further explained, "No rocks. No rocks sing for Ludo." Ludo sat down, making sure Ambrosius wasn't underneath him, and then sighed. He missed his rock friends.

"Do you suppose…" asked Sir Didymus feeling what felt like panic for the very first time in his life, "that this is where the dead go? Perhaps this is some type of purgatory?" It was a superstitious notion but it was an idea he couldn't get rid of.

Hoggle looked at his friend and then suddenly burst out laughing. Hysterical tears gathered in the wrinkly corners of his eyes.

"Oh Lord - stuck here with you two! Forever, at that! I don't know if that's heaven or hell!"

And Sir Didymus laughed too, but only half heartedly. Ludo petted Ambrosius and the dog panted happily, both unaware of what was going on but glad that their friends were happy.

The bird groaned at what he considered two idiots to have gone absolutely, completely bonkers. Even the old man's snoring was preferable to their insane laughter. "Hell," it groaned in reply to Hoggle's statement. "This is definitely hell."

x—X—x

"Sarah?" asked Karen hesitantly, "would you like to come with me in there?" Karen pointed to a chic store full of women's clothes as the family walked through the center of the mall.

"I thought it might be nice to get you a new blouse, to thank you for always watching Toby."

Karen smiled sweetly, and Sarah stopped the polite refusal that instinctively came to mind. _She would be hurt if you refused_, she told herself.

"I'd like that," Sarah said, smiling back, and was surprised that she meant it.

Karen kissed her husband on the cheek and asked if he would mind being alone with Toby for maybe half an hour.

"Of course not," he replied, "We'll go into the electronic department and male bond."

Toby happily gurgled at Robert's joke and Karen whisked Sarah into the store, thinking maybe she could also persuade her step daughter that she also needed some new pants.

x—X—x

Jareth staggered into the room and collapsed near his throne. The wooden support curved around, which provided the back and the arms of the curious chair. It resembled one warped claw. The seat was a vibrant red cushion and on top it laid all his present struggles and endeavors.

Crystals, dozens and dozens of crystals were piled on top of each other. The latest one held a portion of the forest where the fireys danced and delighted the young Sarah, at least until they tried to pull off her head.

Jareth sighed and slipped the newest crystal into an opening. He had worried that his precious work would slip away so he wrapped around them the only material he had, and literally, used the shirt off his back. It was a soft black material, and upon tying the arms together to form a primitive basket, a few gaps remained; but overall he was satisfied.

He rested his forehead against the foot of his throne, shivering as a breeze blew across his exposed back. More. He had to save more, and fast. He could rest later. _Get up_, he told his weary body, _get up before_ –

Suddenly the ground shook and Jareth grasped the front feet of the heavy chair as the castle rocked. Losing grip on one side his body slammed on his right arm and he hissed with pain. The ground mysteriously became still again just as he heard the treacherous clink. His eyes opened in panic as one of the orbs was knocked loose from its perch, not shattering on the stone floor but rolling out the front door.

An anguished cry ripped from his throat and now suddenly energized by the rush of adrenaline, he jumped up after the crystal. It clanked down the stairs, bouncing on each lower step. Jareth made a frantic leap for it and landed right at one of the edges in the Escher room, just missing the crystal as it rolled over the rim and into the abyss.

He growled as he heard within the sphere the frantic screams of about a hundred fairies, forever falling in darkness. Soon, he could hear them in his mind no longer, and his eyes became cold once again. _Mourn for them later, there are much more to save_, he told himself pragmatically.

Carefully he pulled himself up, flinching at the pain in his arm. He eyed the dark swirl below him with a potent hate. The strange dark air appeared randomly over this world, breaking it apart in small sections, but inevitably growing. It would be too risky to save the castle now. He should concentrate on living things and not inanimate objects.

A purple red stain bloomed across his shoulder. No matter. It proved that he was still here, unlike those less fortunate. The fairies screams played back in his mind and he shivered as he strode back to his chamber.

Before he flew to new ground there was a lesson here. He searched the orbs carefully and found the one with Sarah's three friends. It was by far, the most important crystal in his entire kingdom and Jareth had to make sure they were safe – for her sake.

He grasped the pendant around his throat and with a small dagger dug out the golden eye from its silver enfolding. Shrinking the crystal he placed it within the metallic triangle until it clicked in place and he was sure it would not come undone. Satisfied, he gathered the tied knot of his shirt and with his other hand carefully supported its bumpy base.

He concentrated and beads of sweat formed on his brow and the back of his neck. _So little power._ He slumped down on his knees and hunched over the bag clenching his sharp teeth until he thought they would break.

An image of her face came unbidden in his mind. Her palms pressed flat against a sheet of glass, tears falling down her cheeks, as she screamed his name. _A dream_, he told himself. _Remember, it was only a dream. _But the memory of darkness swallowing him up had him gasping in fear. _Don't go there. _He mentally shouted. _Think about her. _

Just the other day he had wanted to save her from the sadness and pain of growing up, of losing her childhood. But one look in her determined green eyes and he knew in his heart that he couldn't deny her the future she was born to accept. She would become a strong woman one day, one who would understand responsibility and integrity because of what she learned from her adventure: to value others before herself.

He could not save her from life. The least he could do was protect her dream.

The warmth engulfed him, and he felt relief wash over his thin form. It was enough energy to get him to his next destination. It would be the last time that day he could teleport, at least until he rested, but he could save a few more of her friends.

"Sarah."

A breeze careened through the empty room, like a cursed ghost. It was the only greeting for the newly formed cracks that graced the stones where moments ago its King had stood.


	4. Darkness and Light

Faith Enduring

Disclaimer: I do not own the Labyrinth or its characters; they are property of Jim Henson, Lucas Films, and Dennis Lee. This fanfiction is not made for profit in anyway; it is only further proof of my love for the movie and that I have an overactive imagination.

Chapter Four

Two weeks had passed and Sarah Williams had not had a single dream to mark the welfare of her beloved Labyrinth. She could not call her friends, nor summon the briefest glimpse of her King, no matter how long she stared into mirrors or whispered his name.

The unease which had barely started the night she saw Jareth in the kitchen window now grew into all out panic. Worst of all she could not do anything about it. She wallowed in her despair and abundant insecurities at night, wishing fervently that in sleep she would fall into some invisible door that would admit her back in. She was shut out. And she vaguely wondered if it was a King's doing.

_Why_, she wondered, _would he keep me away? _

And in her heart she wondered if it was because she could feel herself drifting away, into normality.

When she had last shopped with Karen she found that though her step mother's fashion taste were a bit too conservative for her, the clothing she chose really did look good on Sarah's blossoming body.

It was a long sleeved blouse made from a cream colored material that was neither shiny nor stiff but wonderfully soft. It was sewn in such a way that the material looked to cross over her chest, somehow giving the illusion that her chest was bigger than it really was. The waist was snug, the only part of the design, Karen felt uneasy about, but it thrilled Sarah, making her feel covered up, while at the same time, a little sexy.

"I love this," she had cried and that was the end of it. Karen happily took out her checkbook and for the first time in their uneasy relationship, felt like she had truly bonded with her step daughter.

Sarah wore the blouse at school and actually received a few interested looks from boys who had never known she had previously existed. One of them actually winked at her!

She reached out to a girl she had never noticed before, but who was obviously struggling with her English class. With Sarah's passionate explanations, the girl looked with her thick glasses at "Beowolf" in a new light.

Her teachers were pleased with Sarah's new interest in her studies; though she wasn't the smartest in the class, she had a knack for bringing in unconventional opinions or ideas to various social topics. And her dad could not have been happier when she joined him watching old movies like Abbot and Costello or Bob Hope in the evening.

So it was only at night when she was alone in her room when she could let her guard down that she wondered what had happened. She was careful, very careful not to let her true sorrow show around her family… but every once in a while, more likely on a weekend for there was less to do to occupy her mind, her step mom would comment that Sarah seemed depressed.

Her parents were now eager to help, to spend time with her since her attitude transformation, seeing her as a brave helpful girl who probably felt lonely. Sarah would have laughed at their abundant invitations to drive her to the mall, go to a movie, and their overt politeness had it not been so painfully heartfelt. Denied of her affection and a sense of community in the past, they were mare than willing now to help her.

Sarah wished it were different. She wished she could wallow in her self-pity, but now it felt too incredibly selfish to close her door during the daytime.

Their cheerful faces made her feel a sense of shame, especially since it felt like she was keeping a secret from them, and like a dead limb she wanted to cut that feeling off from her. So feeling that she was losing something, but unable to ignore her responsibilities, Sarah willingly stepped out of her darkness and into her family's light.

x—X—x

It was not until the evening of the full moon when Sarah would finally dream of them. Again, by the end of her nightmare, she had fervently prayed that it was just only that…a nightmare, and nothing more.

It was late in the night and Sarah tossed and turned under her bedcovers as moonlight washed over her fidgeting form.

The wind howled, sweeping the ends of her night gown, and it was dark but she knew where she was. Her feet crunched over the jagged, broken remains of scattered toys, old newspapers, winding music boxes, and flimsy cardboards. It tore at her feet, leaving bloody footprints behind, but she didn't stop nor did she look back. She had a purpose here. There was an answer here that only needed her question to complete it.

The same moon that poured its light into her bedroom now laid before her the broken and only remaining terrain of her beloved labyrinth. She saw silhouettes in the distance and found herself running toward them.

Hoggle's arms embraced her and she cried with joy when she felt Ludo pick both of them up in a fierce hug, and then set them down gently to be greeted by Sir Didymus. They smiled at her and then they simply went away. Sarah blinked in surprise before crying out. Before her a small wooden bookend in the shape of a gnome stood before her. It was next to a foot tall doll in the shape of a gallant fox, complete with feathered hat, patch over his eye, and a plastic rapier, and a book of "Where the Wild Things Are" with a monster that vaguely resembled a certain lumbering monster.

Falling to her knees she gathered the precious items to her and cried as if her heart were breaking. She tried to quiet herself when she heard approaching foot steps.

She felt him drape his cape over her shaking shoulders and it helped protect her from the abusing wind.

He sat down next to her, not looking at her, not touching her, but waiting for the volley of questions he was sure she would have.

"I don't understand," she softly gasped. For some reason, it felt wrong not to whisper.

"You know very well what is going on. You just have to realize it." His voice, though not loud, carried past them, so that it seemed to fill the junkyard with his vital presence.

"I…I made them up?"

"Yes."

"Did…did I make you?"

He picked a piece of lint off his pants and rubbed it between his fingers before flicking it away. "A part of me," he sighed, "But not all. I am still myself, though you have directly influenced me." He smiled at her, but it was a hard smile and it caused a shudder to run through her body.

She looked down nervously, but then quickly back at his carefully guarded face.

"Is your name really Jareth?"

This time the smile was genuine. He liked the way she reflected, delving beyond conventional lines of thought, and in her suspicion, probing something much deeper.

"I can not answer that one."

"Why not?"

"Because my dear Sarah…I do not know."

She blinked again and she knew she was doing that a lot lately but she was completely taken aback. And needless to say, she was more than a little disappointed.

She looked round her and tried to see if she could glimpse the castle nearby. However, there was nothing beyond the borders of the junkyard, just black space. No stars. Only a large moon, which she got the impression, did not actually exist in this realm.

"Is it dying?" her lips trembled and Sarah was sure she would not like the answer. But it had to be asked.

"It is almost gone," and Jareth's voice was not as untouched by emotion as she had thought earlier.

_You loved it too, _she suddenly thought to herself, but dared not say out loud. It was too private and it would have hurt his pride she knew, if he realized how well she understood him.

"But I believed. Why could that not be enough?"

"…It is not a matter of belief. It is, in the beginning of all dreams…but later on, it is a matter of need."

"But I do need them!" Sarah shouted, and then cringed at the strength of her voice.

"No Sarah…you don't." And Jareth truly did look sad then. His gloved hand reached out for hers and he held it gently.

"It is not your fault. The Labyrinth was created to help you overcome a personal obstacle. Once the adventure is done, it is done. It means the lesson was learned, and the individual no longer needs its strength."

He ran a thumb over her hand and looked deep into her eyes, making sure she understood the weight of his words. "You are too strong now to need the Labyrinth Sarah."

The ground shook and Sarah's heart constricted in fear. "It will not harm you," she heard his harsh whisper; "I will not let anything harm you." And in that one statement a quiet hopeful suspicion flared to life in Sarah. The words choked her and fear seized her throat. Fear. Not for the ever increasing rumbling and the sharp cracks of land splitting apart but for something much more terrifying and personal to her.

"Will I lose you?" She cried, the land now throwing both their balance off so that they had to place a hand before them on the ground just to stay upright. The sky broke into serrated pieces of lightning.

Jareth suddenly gripped her hand and his body seized up. His wild blond hair whipped about his face.

"Stay with me," he gasped. And she knew he was afraid. She carefully inched closer to him and gripped his hand with both of hers.

"How often have you done this?" And Jareth closed his eyes to steel himself from his personal demons.

"Too many to count. But each time…I can hardly bear it."

He gasped her name and Sarah screamed. The land opened up right below him so that Sarah was the only thing keeping him from falling. She held on, oh god, she held on. Her body pulled an inch forward, and then another slow inch, his weight dragged her advancing into a terrifying unknown.

"No," she cried, the tears falling so hard she couldn't breathe.

Jareth was yelling at her - she had to open her eyes to know what he was saying.

"A dream! Sarah - it is only a dream!"

"Jareth!" she screamed as she was pulled hard enough so that her stomach lay at the edge of the gaping crevice. Books and small toys flew past his pale face into what Sarah saw was a churning sea of blackness. Jareth tried to speak calmly, he had to… For her.

"Sarah," the name was said so affectionately it was like a dagger through her heart.

"Beloved, let me go."

"No!" she screamed. "Don't do this to me! Don't leave me like this! God damn you, at least try!" The tears wouldn't stop, she was blinded by them.

"It's a dream Sarah, I promise you - you will see me again!" His hand was slipping from her sweaty palms and Sarah's arms screamed in pain and exhaustion.

"When?" she shouted feeling faint. She could barely hear him now with the wind and her furious heart beating like a drum roll in her ears.

"You will see me again in a dream! I can feel it!" he all but screamed. "If all goes well – it will be the last time I see you!"

His hand slipped through hers and Sarah shrieked, sitting upright in her bed.

Karen was the first in her door, followed by a wide eyed Robert whose hair was wedged in strange directions from sleep.

"Hush Sarah, it was only a dream." Karen suddenly hugged her and Sarah allowed it because she was too numb to do otherwise. "Only a dream, only a dream," she crooned, rocking her step daughter. She thought she was successful at calming her when all of a sudden Sarah started to cry. Robert looked uncomfortable and quietly slipped away, back to bed. And no matter what she did Karen was confused and couldn't console the distraught Sarah, who now sobbed that it was all her fault.


	5. Our Choices

Faith Enduring

Disclaimer: I do not own the Labyrinth or its characters; they are property of Jim Henson, Lucas Films, and Dennis Lee. This fanfiction is not made for profit in anyway; it is only further proof of my love for the movie and that I have an overactive imagination.

Chapter Five

Dripping. Something was dripping…and it was annoying the sleeping Goblin King. He moaned. Sarah's voice still reverberated in his aching skull. The dream was…intense. Sarah's dreams foreshadowed what things would come and he knew his time was drawing near. A tremble ran through his body.

His eyes slowly opened and his vision was bleary but he could just make out the stack of books before him; one book in particular jutted out more than the others and from its corner a steady drop of rain water fell and hit his hand.

_So cold, _he said to himself. His shoulder ached terribly and his whole body felt numb from sleeping on moist mildewed cardboard. It was so hard to think with his head pounding like that so he closed his eyes again, promising himself, that with just a few minutes more, he would feel better, and he could continue his mission. After all, he could sense that there were not many left. In fact, from what he could tell, only one more remained.

He felt someone drape a scratchy material over his upper body and against his body's complaints he opened his eyes and painfully sat up.

"What…?"

"E're now dear. Just thought you might be needing something to warm you right up, that I did."

Jareth focused his eyes and against the bright light he saw the round lumpy face of the bag lady frowning at him but with a good nature twinkle in her large round eyes. Jareth looked where he lay and saw that she had covered him with a wool sweater, ghastly pink with a bunny of all things sewn on its front. Ugly material, but the gesture touched him.

"Thank you," he said uncertainly. He sat up fully now and saw that close to him was a small fire contained in a big cooking pot. The bag lady saw his eyes look at it quickly and then come back to rest on her.

"Didn't want no fire to spread," she grumbled, shaking her straw like hair and then turning her back to him for a moment. She returned and placed a cylindrical tin in his hand (the kind commonly used for holding pencils and crayons) and the warmth of it in his cold hands felt nice. He brought it to his lips and tasted hot chocolate.

"I know you be used to wine and such but down here that's all that we got, that and them dang blasted kool aid packets."

She heard him laugh. Then she saw his back straighten as he held the cup in a regal manner. He smiled graciously at her, almost with good natured mischief he tilted the tin at her as if to say "cheers," and proceeded to drink the stuff as if it truly were a fine wine.

She smiled wickedly. Oh yes, she liked this one. He had spunk but good manners too. Sitting down slowly the huge pile on her back swayed, rocking her form until it settled in its equilibrium.

The Goblin King comradely handed her the cup and without hesitation, she drank from it, but then her attitude turned serious.

"You do too much for her," she said in a gruff voice, as she now stared into the cup.

Jareth did not answer. He waited for her to say what she truly wanted him to hear.

"I hate her," she said calmly, draining the last of the hot liquid. She tugged out her sleeve to lovingly wipe the tin clean before placing it in a nearby pocket.

"I would rather she never made me… than give me a purpose and then – then leave us all behind the way that she did."

She pulled out a stuffed toy from the many folds of clothing around her hunched chest and clasped it to her like a small child.

"Just like Fluffy here…" her voice sounded rough with pain as she petted its tattered ears and then held it close again.

"She used to love this toy…Then she grew up. She grew up and she don't need it no more. Do you know what that makes Fluffy?"

Jareth silently watched her. Her eyes narrowed, as she spat out, "Trash! Still in good condition but now it's labeled trash!"

She breathed hard and couldn't catch her breath due to the weight of her overburdened back. Jareth waited patiently for her to calm herself. Minutes passed before she could speak again.

"You're not the same as we are," her small voice said to him.

She meant Fluffy and herself and her eyes took on a tired wistful look as she gazed beyond the setting sun. Jareth took the sweater off his shoulder, carefully folded it, and placed it in her trembling hand. She suddenly held both the sweater and the doll tightly to her body.

"Listen," she wheezed. And both could hear thunder in the distance.

She closed her eyes tightly, rubbing her swollen cheek against the head of "Fluffy" and it comforted her. With glazed eyes she looked at him, feeling for one second, as if she were in a dream.

"I know what's coming," she sighed. "I don't know why it comes, but I know what it does. I admire your efforts, but I think you understand, yes, even you, that you can not save every head in this here land. It ain't forever no more."

Jareth touched her bony arm and pressed a crystal near her. "Take it," he quietly demanded.

She stubbornly shook her head.

"Regardless of what you think…" he said, "of what you think she believes…you are important." He pulled his upper body straighter and pressed the orb closer but she turned his hand away, almost demurely. She then grinned and patted him on the cheek like the old woman she is.

"You're a good one. I can see that. I would have liked having you for a King."

The rumbling sounded closer and both could feel a slight trembling in the ground. Her gaze hardened with a calm reserve of strength she did not know she possessed.

Suddenly she stood up and looked down at the bare chest man with something close to affection. She laid the sweater and the doll down next to him tenderly, as if they were both her children, then she slowly stepped forward away from them. A click is heard and amazingly her large bundle of goods fell away from her. For the first time, she takes a deep breath, and it is amazing to see her bony chest rise and fall in the dying light.

Jareth was momentarily awed.

"She may have made me," she said, not looking at Jareth, but toward the endless horizon "but I will not live in a bauble. Nor will I wait passively for her to need me."

Her arms trembled indicating that though her words were brave, she was terrified. It was almost upon her.

"I am my own person. And I will choose my own path," she fiercely whispered.

The wind swirled as the land cracked in two. The bag lady threw her arms wide open, and stepped forward into what seemed like an emergence of dark air. Jareth raised his arm to grab her but then had to shield his eyes from an errant bolt of lightning. He cried out for her but his voice died in the wind.

When he lowered his arm, the loud rumbling had diminished to a low keening sound and the sky was once again clear.

The bag lady was no where to be seen.

Jareth fell onto his side and groaned. It was over. His mission was complete.

x—X—x

Sarah could not remember falling asleep but she had the distinct impression of floating down the stairs, and one does not float in real life. Her hand felt the smooth friction of the banister as she slowly descended into the dining room.

She blinked rapidly. There upon the dining table, laid upon its smooth checkered cloth, was the labyrinth; a mini version, exact in every detail. Awed, she neared it, and she found the starting point, the little hill where Jareth had brought her, warning her to turn back while she still could.

Her eyes moved quickly to the front of the gate where if she really concentrated she could just make out the tiniest shimmering, the miniscule shine reflected from fairy wings. Further she looked into the heart of the labyrinth, seeing the orderly hedges of green rows, and then the forest where the fireys danced. Unbelievably there was a little bridge overlooking burbling gray goop that actually smelled! Then there was the landfill level with broken old toys and children's novelties, with a small pathway to the messy and disorganized Goblin Kingdom.

She marveled at the exact replica of the castle, its pointy angles and sharp towers jutting out from the center of the small world. She windered vaguely that if she looked very carefully if she may find a king hidden in its twists and turns.

"Hi Sarah, we're home!"

Her dad and Karen stepped in through the doorway carrying bags of groceries.

Sarah turned wide eyes from the labyrinth to them.

_Oh my god, what will they say when they see this here?_

Before she could do anything her father stepped into the dining room and smiled at her.

"Sarah, could you put away that stuff and set the table please?"

"W-what?"

"You heard me. Put away the labyrinth. It's time for dinner. Karen is making beef stew, your favorite."

Sarah stood there her mouth agape. "No, I-I can't, you don't understand."

And suddenly they were all their on the other side of the room, unified, looking hurt. Karen was in her white apron, carrying a crying Toby, as she held her husband's hand.

Turning toward Sarah's dad, her perfectly pink lipstick covered lips formed a sad smile.

"Robert, it's okay. She doesn't want to spend time with us. She's a teenager now. It's natural that she hates us. Especially me…after all, I'm not her real mother."

Sarah blanched, "No, oh no, I don't" -

Her dad sighed, "Sarah…I thought we were friends."

Sarah trembled. She wanted to be angry but found no strength in it. They loved her. She could see it in their eyes even when they both stood far away from her. _I am so sorry – I have bought so much pain into your lives. _And before she knew it she had made her choice. Her heart broke when she waved her hand over the table. She expected to send the castle crashing but instead…it had vanished…it just didn't exist.

Confusion clouded and marred Sarah's face. _Am I still dreaming? Was it ever really there?_

Her family was ecstatic and they crushed her with warmth and hugs. "You love us!" they cried. Their joy was overwhelming and she buckled slightly from the pressure.

Ever busy, her step mother handed her a glass plate to set upon the table and Sarah cried out. Jareth's face reflected in it, not her own! The plate falls, breaking on the hard wood floor and the many fractures of her stare back accusingly.

Over the thundering beat in her chest she heard her dad's voice shift. "Sarah."

He wasn't there…but he is now. His white cape, resembling bone and feathers, draped over his shoulders, making him look too big, too strong for the little room. Karen, Toby, and her father are no where to be seen. Her movements are drowned out by her feelings; everything is impossibly clear and blurred at the same time. Suddenly she remembered where she really was. His words rang in her head like a gong.

_If all goes well – it will be the last time I see you!_

"No," she cried, ignorant of the tears choking her. "Jareth, please!"

His hand lifted, too slow for her mind to understand, too quickly for her heart to accept. The crystal is balanced on the tips of his white glove and his face hid the agony she could feel radiating from his body.

"Look at what I'm offering you Sarah. Your dreams."

Blinking, she did not refuse him this time as she cradled the orb between her two small hands. She looked at it and she saw the labyrinth's power shining from its crystalline depths.

His love dragged her down and made her feel like she was being pressed under something immense as her body convulsed with the need to weep. "Thank you," seemed terribly inadequate. And his words floated to her on the waves of this insurmountable feeling, caressing her as it pulled her under. She tried to take his hand but he stepped back from her. His eyes held a sad resignation to them.

"You are beautiful but you will become even more beautiful. You are strong but one day you will be more than you hope and more than you can even imagine." He nodded at her and the small gesture felt like a bow. Sarah could not run to him, invisible hands seemed to hold her in place.

"Don't," she gasped.

He was looking away from her, toward the door. The sound of wind howling overtook and deepened the feeling that something terrible was about to happen – and the door shook within its frame.

"The hour is late," was his cryptic reply.

The door flew off its hinges and Sarah screamed, holding the crystal to her chest, protecting it by keeping it near her heart. The darkness surged beyond the door, much like the last time she saw it in a dream as it overwhelmed her friend and savior, the Goblin King. It did not pass beyond the frame but crackled and leapt like fire, churned like water, and screamed like the winds of an otherworldly storm.

He stepped toward her then, using his magic to keep her where she stood. His white gloves cupped her cheeks and with his thumbs he wiped away her tears.

"I was never meant to stay within someone's dream. Your dream was one of the most interesting," and at that he gave a crooked smile. But then his expression softened again, "and one of the most beautiful. I have been in many, many dreams Sarah. Yours was not the first…"

He kissed her, a soft brushing of lips. And Sarah felt like she was dying.

"But I wish it was."

Jareth touched his forehead to hers and sighed, savoring the feeling of her skin upon his, before he ripped himself away. He had to do this. If he stayed she would cease to grow and learn and be herself. And because of her he also was becoming a better person. A lesson, not many could help him with.

"Because of you, I can now do this, unafraid…and without doubt."

And it was true he realized. The fear that had seized him a few days ago was simply not there. But pain had replaced it. _Just one last look._

He turned and saw the same pain he felt reflected in her eyes. It almost undid him. Then he twisted away. He knew what he had to do.

It is the last time he looked at her and nothing else seemed appropriate but to moan his name. The sheer whiteness of his outfit made him shine like a beacon before the backdrop of contemptible darkness, and he strode like one sure of his destiny.

She lunged for him but she nearly fell. Still she couldn't move! Her feet were rooted to the ground, that insignificant wood polish that made the foundation of her home, and all she could do was scream his name as he walked calmly away from her.

Sarah gasped upright on her bed, clenching the top of her blanket within her white fists. Quickly she threw the covers off and swung her legs onto the side of her bed, nearly stumbling as she made for the lights. Her naked feet brought her swiftly to her vanity mirror.

"Please," her quiet voice beseeched as she brought one hand up to lay against the glasses smooth surface, "please come to me. Let me see you. Hoggle. Sir Didymous. Ludo."

Her throat tightened and her voice broke and her hand slowly became a fist, as she whispered, "Jareth?"

Nothing happened.

She was about to give up hope of receiving any sign from her dear friends when something shiny caught her eye.

There, on the ground, close to her feet lay a dark strange shaped bag. The shine had come from a small gap in the material. Something had reflected the overhead light.

A feeling of dread filled her heart as she crouched down and knelt before it. She carefully pulled apart the top knot and it felt as if the whole world stopped on its axis. Crystals. A huge collection of crystals sat before her. And on top this sacred offering laid his pendant. How could she not recognize it? She had never seen him without it, but… it looked different somehow.

She brought it up closer for inspection and saw that instead of a gold or silver center there was a smaller but just as perfect crystal. Her breath escaped before she could cover her mouth with her frightened hand, for she saw within the orb the sleeping figures of her best friends. Scrambling through all the orbs she looked within their magical core and saw fragments and citizens of the labyrinth. Sleeping. All of them were sleeping. She hunched over the crystals feeling darkness and confusion seep into her soul.

If it were not for the medallion she might have had hope but in it she sensed a note of finality. He would never have parted with it if it were not some act of sacrifice. Her dream haunted her, and his voice, deep and melodic, weaved in and out of her consciousness.

_You are too strong now to need the Labyrinth Sarah._

_Beloved, let me go._

_Look at what I'm offering you Sarah. Your dreams._

_Fear me. Love me. Do as I say, and I will be your slave._

_The hour is late._

_Because of you, I can now do this, unafraid…and without doubt._

Clasping the pendant close to her heart she stood and placed her hand against the mirror again. Her reflection beseeched her with wide terrified eyes.

"Jareth," she breathed, "Jareth…"

Long into the night she called out his name and no one appeared.

When the tracings of dawn filtered through her window curtains and she could hear Karen moving in the house, answering Toby's early day feeding…

Sarah wept.


	6. Conversations and Memories

A/N: I would like to thank everyone who has read and reviewed this fanfiction because your words and support mean a lot to me and is what kept this story going – Anij, White Rose Withering, Ridel, Mrs.Bowie3, TarahW, and notwritten – Thank you! I couldn't have written this much if it weren't for all of you!

I would like to dedicate this chapter to Anij. She and I have been emailing each other and she brought up insightful questions and thoughtful opinions that helped jumpstart my muse. Thank you Anij - for taking the time to go over the previous chapters and for all your patient help.

Faith Enduring

Disclaimer: I do not own the Labyrinth or its characters; they are property of Jim Henson, Lucas Films, and Dennis Lee. This fanfiction is not made for profit in anyway; it is only further proof of my love for the movie and that I have an overactive imagination.

Chapter Six

The sheer whiteness of his outfit made him shine like a beacon before the backdrop of contemptible darkness, and he strode like one sure of his destiny.

Jareth closed his eyes and ignored her voice moaning his name. _Leave her_, he told himself bitterly, _you have no part to play in her life._ _A breeze…she is a mere breeze passing by._

But she wasn't just a casual moment to pass by and he knew it. She pained him in a way no one else had. And it made him wish to tear apart that enclosed feeling, the idea that the universe was pressing in on him.

He hesitated at the door, pressing his hand on the wooden frame. He could feel the energy humming behind it, like a boiling reservoir of static, ready to leap into him. He closed his eyes and instead thought of her lips… cool, and wonderfully soft…it reminded him of the night air he would glide through in the form of an owl. Those moments were intoxicating, freeing…

How often had done that? Flying between dusk until night in search of another frightened and confused soul who needed his powers? 13 hours…a task that endlessly repeated itself through the years in the form of angry individual's dreams; and if necessary, kept repeating until they got it right. It would have driven him insane had it not been for his friend…

He remembered how on that fateful day he had felt it… her mind was irritated and soul weary. He followed her from the park, her white sneakers flying as she cried "It's not fair!" and saw the angry exchange between step mother and step daughter.

Then _it_ happened. Their unintended future flashed in his mind… chaotic…the pain entirely unnecessary. There would be anger and alienation between both parties as their miscommunication and hurt grew. Then in the upcoming years, a horrible accident when Sarah was babysitting would occur. She, sulking in her room, as the energetic three year old Toby curiously pressed his toys then his fingers into a wall outlet. What followed was a life so guilt wracked and hurtful he could not even describe it. The premonition ended and he knew without a doubt, she was his next task.

He alighted on a branch outside the window, the light glaring through, burning his night sensitive retinas. Her thoughts careened through his skull like a foghorn as she held the baby in her arms: _I hate you! I hate her! _Then the words, the words that would begin everything:

"I wish…" she whispered. And Jareth entered her world.

It was that moment all over again, he realized, as his right hand tightly grasped the pendant. A mere thought and the medallion was gone, quickly joining the rest of its crystal brethren at the foot of her desk. She would find them and she would understand because his friend would be there to guide her.

Leaving the medallion and his friend behind would be his final decision.

Jareth knew what was in store for the indomitable Sarah. A loving family, a close connection to her sibling over the years…she would be beautiful and headstrong, always sticking up for the little guys, and because of that confidence she would meet someone…she would fall in love, and feel happier than she ever thought possible as she watched her children grow up. How could he interfere with such a warm comfortable future?

He eyed the door solemnly as it crackled and hissed.

Once through he would leave Sarah's dream and therefore, her world, and pass into the void. It had come full circle again. Jareth was to pass through a door to save Sarah's future. Only instead of interceding, he was leaving her path free of interruption, that she may live the life she was intended to have.

That one instant he stepped on the threshold; he took a breath to steady himself for the onslaught…_For her, _he said to himself.

His foot lifted…

The darkness swept him away.

x—X—x

On a brown leather couch, Sarah sat in the living room in a strange daze. The television set was on but it was obvious that she was not in anyway interested in what the weatherman had to say. The light slanted through the white blinds and particles of dust could be seen floating discordantly between light and shadows. It made the room seem very old and very dry. Wrapped in a granny square blanket and watching the TV gather more dust, Sarah wondered quite absentmindedly, if she was trapped in a photograph.

It was in this self stupor that her father found her.

_She has been like this for three days._

He was concerned. She didn't miss school but she might as well have with her lethargic contributions to their daily question, "how was your day?" It even sounded like she made things up, as if she didn't really remember what actually happened around her. Whenever he or Karen talked to her it would be as if she woke from a daydream; she would come back to them and smile, continuing a conversation as if nothing were wrong. It was her smile that threw everything off. The way her eyes did not reflect what the muscles in her mouth meant. She acted, he mused, like one in mourning.

Robert grabbed her coat and threw it onto her lap. She blinked in surprise and looked at him with a tired look of curiosity.

"It's such a nice cool evening, why don't we take a little walk?"

He could see her thinking, perhaps trying to find a reason not to leave her quiet sanctuary.

"C'mon. Just like old times."

It was true; he and Sarah had not bonded like that since, well, before her mother left. She must have been ten the last time they walked outside in nice autumn weather, talking about what interested her, what she thought was the best movie in the theatres, and what new trick she taught Merlin.

_Has it really been that long? _He wondered.

Five years since they walked down the neighborhood…and now Sarah was almost as tall as Karen. She had grown into a teenager…a young woman who probably felt confused about her direction in life and about responsibilities more important than teaching an old dog a new trick. Robert felt a flicker of nostalgia and wondered at how the time flew by.

Sarah put on the thin coat and in a small voice said, "Okay." The air was brisk and the slight bite of cold had both father and daughter push their hands deep into the pockets of their coats. It was still light out and they passed by neighbors busy raking small piles of leaves or talking casually on red brick porches, releasing good natured puffs of conversation from their cigarettes.

Robert looked over his shoulder at Sarah who fell one step behind him. The trees with their changing colors, and the houses they passed by were like another TV screen for her to ignore.

"So…tell me," he started a little awkwardly, "what's on your mind?"

Sarah smiled sweetly, and said, "Nothing much, I have some new algebra equations to memorize…and Mrs. Jacobs has us reading Julius Caesar."

Robert kept his frown to himself. He knew when someone was misleading him. For her to not trust him…was mildly insulting. He tried to swallow that feeling down as Karen's words reminded him that Sarah was in a very sensitive age.

"She's fifteen," she had said, "It's a very confusing time for any girl. You should talk to her…guide her… She seems so sad."

"It's a guy isn't it?" Robert had stopped walking a moment before the words left his mouth; it was a good thing because for that brief lull, Sarah had stepped past his figure before she also stopped in her tracks. Standing in front of him, Sarah's pained expression went unnoticed. Robert watched her back straighten and then watched her begin to walk forward again. It was a very controlled reaction but it told Robert what he wanted to know.

_This is definitely about a guy._

Thinking he had it all figured out he calmly walked behind Sarah. They would soon come up to the bend in the road, which when followed would lead a path straight to their house.

"Sarah, these things happen all the time. You don't need a guy to make you happy. Guys are idiots. At your age, I can tell you this; guys are not mature and have only one thing in mind. How do I know this…because I used to young and stupid too." He was about to go on but Sarah stopped walking one foot ahead of him.

"Dad…"

Robert watched the back of Sarah and waited for her indignant response, her irritated anger, or her surprise at his blunt fatherly assumptions. She surprised him yet again when she turned around and looked him in the eye.

He had never seen her so composed, so dispassionate, and a part of him wondered at the evenness of her tone.

"When mom left I was hurt. I blamed you and I blamed myself that she left. I wondered if I had done anything wrong."

"Oh, god Sarah, you didn't –"

"Dad," she said very calmly, "Let me finish. And when I'm done, you can say and ask whatever you want."

Robert blinked. Did his own daughter just tell him what to do? Sarah continued.

"I even imagined that one day she would return. She would realize how much she missed us and then we would all forget that she even left."

She took a breath and he could see her gather the words, the right words to explain to him what she was feeling.

"I was angry with you for marrying Karen. And I now realize I was mad mainly because you were able to move on when I couldn't. I was still waiting for mom to return, waiting for her to see me practicing plays and monologues…waiting for her to say that she was proud I was trying so hard to be like her. I resented Karen and I resented Toby and those feelings made me act very childishly. I ran away from you because I thought you could not possibly understand what it felt like, to wait for someone you knew would never come back."

It was at this point she paused, and an image of wild blonde hair whipping in the breeze under white lattice arches, filled her mind. A crystal roved over his black gloves.

"_Do you want it?" He asked, suddenly pulling the crystal away from her hand. "Then forget the baby." "I can't," she said and realized with a start, she wanted to protect her baby brother. She wanted him home._

"I met someone," she said, bringing herself back to the little gray street lined by neat rows of maples. "Someone who helped me realize how foolish I was being. He told me, simply, that I was a spoiled little girl. And he helped me see that making myself a victim was "unfair" to everyone else. I don't resent Toby anymore, he means everything to me. I don't see him as "Karen's son" anymore; he's my "brother.""

_A black leathered finger points to the clock and its hands rotate clockwise, causing her to lose two hours. "It's not fair!" she cried. "You say that so often," he mocked, cocking his head to the side before brushing past her, "I wonder what your basis for comparison is?"_

Sarah shook the image out of her head. "And because of him I realized how I took you, Karen, and Toby for granted. And I'm sorry. It was unfair of me…unfair of me to not say how much I appreciate all of you…how much I love you…" Sarah's lip trembled as she said, "I love you dad."

Robert clenched his hands in his pockets as it felt momentarily hard to breathe. How could he have allowed her to have felt so alone and guilt ridden?

"Sarah, I never wanted you to feel that way. I've always loved you and wanted what was best for you. It was so difficult when Linda left; I just wrapped myself in my work to dull the hurt…and left you to handle her departure all alone. I'm – I'm sorry."

Robert didn't even know how it happened but they were holding each other. He couldn't believe it, all this time he thought Sarah was too old, too big to hug, but it was what she had been waiting for…what they both needed.

"Dad…," she said, now gently stepping away, "this "guy" you're passing judgment on…he helped me so much and I'm never going to see him again. The last thing he ever said to me was that one day I am going to be more than I can ever hope to be or imagine. I didn't even get to thank him."

And it was too much. Her throat seemed to close in on itself. She could see him in her mind, holding out the crystal to her, his soft lips brushing against hers, and his eyes sad…resigned as he walked away. The tears fell from her eyes but she did not break down into hysterics. She wiped her hand across her face; and turning, she walked briskly away before Robert could tell her, "It would all be okay."

x—X—x

A tidal wave of power crashed over him and he was engulfed by the surge of crackling darkness. His eyes were shut tightly, his jaws clenched – every muscle tightened and screamed as the energy burned into him, cleansing his soul. The pain doubled him over as what felt like a blanket of glowing embers surrounded and pressed in on him. It stole his breath away…and through it all, he thought of her.

_Sarah…the girl with large gray green eyes. Her raven hair whipping behind her as she ran toward a castle - toward the sound of her brother crying. Her eyes ringing betrayal after she bit the fruit…Dancing. Music…We were dancing. _

Sparks of light slashed behind his eyes – he almost passed out.

_She was beautiful with silver leaves lacing through her hair. Her eyes wide and mesmerizing as I took her hand. The soft pressure of her fingers…her palm pressing against my gloved hand as we swept through the room. Oh god never let me forget. Never – Sarah! Her name, Sarah. Just this once… dark hair. Broken glass. The labyrinth._

Her soft voice washed over him as he writhed in agony, _"You have no power over me."_

_It burns! Stop! Stop! _

It was as if he held a handful of photographs and they were being consumed within his hands, the black ash falling through his fingers. The image of her was fading and he was seized with panic.

He felt himself falling.

He sank into the depths of that nothingness, delving into what is like a black ocean. Its texture was devoid of any warmth and his body sighed in relief even as he was pulled under. It was so numbing that the pain was instantly extinguished.

_Sarah…_

Her name is all that is precious and it means more to him than to breathe. He descended into darkness thinking of her lips, her smile even as his consciousness started to fade. "The Labyrinth," he sighed.

And for the first time in his life… he dreamt.


	7. A Warm Moment

A/N: I'm sorry for the delay. I hope you're still interested in this story. This chapter is just to explain the crystals a bit. The next chapter will have more action – I promise. Again, thank you for reading.

I want to thank Anij for reading over this chapter and giving me her opinions – Thank You!

Faith Enduring

Disclaimer: I do not own the Labyrinth or its characters; they are property of Jim Henson, Lucas Films, and Dennis Lee. This fanfiction is not made for profit in anyway; it is only further proof of my love for the movie and that I have an overactive imagination.

Chapter Seven

Sarah did not remember the walk back, nor did she quite remember going up the staircase. In fact ever since her conversation with her father, everything had a blurred feeling in her mind, right until she stood before the white door that led to her bedroom.

The moment her hand touched the handle a tiny course of electricity thrummed through her fingers and she knew her friends would be there. She did not know when that had started to happen, her awareness of magic, but ever since the day she had last dreamt of Jareth, she could sense when traces of the labyrinth filled her room.

The door gave way and she was greeted with the sight of her three friends sitting on the floor encircling a small pile of gummy worms, each holding a handful of cards. The looks of sly glances and concentration on their faces warmed her as she shut then locked the door, and mysteriously, her headache receded a bit.

Hoggle lifted one thick eyebrow and calmly scrutinized with narrowed eyes his companions. Sir Didymous was an admirable player with quite the stoic "poker face;" though once in a while Hoggle could see through the feigned disinterest when the fox's tail would twitch, as if said fox was trying desperately to withhold excitement. Ludo was not exactly the best card player but since he didn't understand the game, there was no way to tell from his face if he had a winning hand or not. And just by sheer luck, Ludo had been winning all the gummy worms.

Sarah sat on the edge of her bed and watched them play.

Ludo made to put down his cards when Sir Didymous snuffled his whiskers and said, "Brother…it would be prudent to place a bet first before exposing your hand."

"Huh?"

"Put some worms down, you giant fur ball," Hoggle said as he grabbed some gummy worms from his pocket and placed it down on the pile.

Sarah's smile grew. She knew that Hoggle's words held no real malice for the gentle monster, if anything there was a genuine sense of fondness. Ludo sensed this and taking no offence at Hoggle's playful banter, also placed a handful of gummy worms to the increasing pile now decorated with pocket lint, orange fur, and a whisker or two. Sir Didymous also placed his bet.

"Alright," whispered Hoggle, "It's the moment of truth gentlemen. No going back – show 'em."

All three laid out there cards at which Hoggle immediately started cursing. Sarah cocked her head to see what everyone had but couldn't make heads or tales of their game. They each had a handful of, well, everything.

"Argh! Sir Didymous, you dealt last! How can it be he has all red cards, again?!?"

But before he could answer Ludo's look of confusion was replaced with happiness as he scooped up all the dirty, linty gummy worms and stuffed it into his mouth with a blissful "Mmmm."

Sarah laughed at the outrage playing across Hoggle's wrinkled face. Sir Didymous stood and with his hat in one hand, bowed before Sarah.

"Would fair maiden care to grace our game with her lovely company?"

Sarah smiled and the fox took great pride in seeing that her eyes reflected that smile.

"Thank you," she breathed, "but I do not think I have the talent for," and here she looked at Ludo who had one linty worm dangling from the corner of his mouth, "uh, gambling. Perhaps next time."

Hoggle frowned at her before saying, "You haven't been sleeping much." It wasn't a question but a statement.

Ludo and Sir Didymous looked at her with concern.

Sarah sighed as her head dipped a little forward. No she hadn't been sleeping well for the last three days, and she guessed that the problem of sleep deprivation wouldn't go away any time soon. She felt the bed dip next to her as Ludo sat down on her bed, causing a great creaking sound to emerge. She leaned into his hug just as Hoggle patted her knee.

"You can talk about it with us, you know," he said. Sarah nodded and was about to tell them about the dreams when all of a sudden she heard a soft knock at her door.

"Sarah? May I come in?"

Sarah gasped, "It's Karen, hide!"

Ludo quickly pushed himself off the bed, and Sarah cringed at the loud creak that followed. Sir Didymous ran to the other two labyrinth inhabitants with a crystal orb in his hand.

"Sarah?"

"Uh – just a minute!"

All three friends touched the orb and with a single thought suddenly disappeared, the orb fell, making a soft thud as it landed on the carpet.

Suddenly Sarah realized that the old man with the hat was still snoozing in the corner of her room. Always asleep, Sarah and her friends forgot he was even there most of the time, but Karen would definitely notice. Thinking fast, she threw a huge pile of dirty clothes over him and the bird hat.

"Ack!" the bird cried.

"Please," Sarah begged, "Please just don't make a sound."

Sarah leapt to the door and unlocked it, revealing a puzzled looking Karen.

"Since when do you lock your door?" Karen asked, with just a tiny bit of exasperation.

"Oh, um," Sarah wracked her brain to come up with something plausible, "well I was reading a horror story…and it sort of makes me feel better, to, uh lock the door," she finished lamely.

Karen smiled, "Oh, don't feel silly, I completely understand. The first time I saw "Psycho," I could never look at taking a shower quite the same. To this day, even when I know I'm perfectly safe, I still lock the door."

Sarah returned the smile, hoping her step mother would tell her what she needed; she didn't think she could handle baring her soul to a parent quite so soon again.

"I just came by to tell you I'm going to the grocery store, and wondered if you wanted anything in particular?"

Sarah thought about her three roommates who would love something more substantial than gummy candy; and surely they were sick of the peanut butter and jelly sandwiches she had been sneaking up to them. "Actually, I do have a real craving for split pea soup and some hot dogs. Um, actually I think I can eat a lot of hotdogs, could you maybe buy three packs? I'll reimburse you."

Karen gave her that puzzled look again and then suddenly smiled, "Sarah, you silly. If you're inviting friends over you don't have to feel ashamed of feeding them. Of course I'll get some hotdogs, would you like me to pick up some frozen pizza too? Perhaps some popcorn to go along with it?"

Sarah paled under her smile; god, how she hated lying to her folks. Although in this case, she really was feeding her friends, but she didn't think her parents could quite handle her having "special magical friends."

She wondered if she would suddenly have to produce some "normal" friends within the week to justify the increased groceries. Gulping, she decided to deal with it when the problem arose, "T-that sounds great. I can't thank you enough – here let me go get," but Karen interrupted her.

"No you don't, this is on me. You save your money. You're going to need it when you buy a car – in fact you'd be surprised with how fast money goes, especially when you go to college."

Karen whirled away from Sarah, missing the subtle look of horror flitting through her green eyes. Karen would never realize how at the mention of her future, Sarah would slip just a bit further into despair. It had been three days. How could she fathom years without…

Sarah quietly shut the door.

And locked it.

x – X – x

Her nerves just a bit frazzled, Sarah breathed deeply a few moments before crossing to the fallen crystal. Picking it up she whispered, "It's okay. She's gone."

The first time she had picked up the orb with her friends she was just as astonished to find them suddenly in her room, for no other reason, than that she wished it so. She was astonished…but glad, oh so glad as she held them. Now she wasn't alone and had three friends to share her concerns about the Labyrinth.

Sarah and her friends had agreed to leave the other inhabitants asleep, since in that way, they would not experience hunger or confusion…but as to what their future plans were, well Hoggle was the one who said to take it one day at a time.

As Sarah held the orb, there was a tiny moment where a sound, akin to static, ensued. In a blink of an eye, they were there; Sarah could not describe it any better.

Suddenly there was gasping and mutterings, very acidic mutterings by the sound of it, shot at Sir Didymous.

"What in #$ name possessed you to pick THERE of all places!?!?!"

Ludo looked like he was going to be sick as he wheezed, "Smells bad!"

"You're telling me," said Hoggle as he leaned on his hands and knees, gasping and wiping his eyes with the shirt of his sleeve. Suddenly his big head jerked up at Sarah as he all but shouted, "And YOU! Couldn't you have gotten your step mom out of here any sooner?!?"

Sarah blinked, realizing from Hoggle's angry tone which orb Sir Didymous must have picked.

"Hoggle, it's not like I knew where you were. If I had I would have tried harder, you know that."

"Sir Hoggle exaggerates, My Lady, we would have waited years if need be were you to command it so."

"Says YOU!" Hoggle spat, "I would never have gone in the first place – again! Why did you pick the Bog of Eternal Stench?!?"

Sir Didymous dusted off his sleeve and answered with a proud jut of his chin, "It was, after all, my home."

Sarah's attention turned to the sound of muffled obscenities. It seemed that not only Hoggle had an extensive vocabulary.

"Oh God, I'm sorry!" She flung the dirty clothes away from the old man, who amazingly was still asleep, and found the source of all the strange noises. She yanked the dirty sock out of the bird's mouth whose head collapsed to the side as he gasped, "Air…CLEAN air."

"What's the matter? Can't handle a little dirty laundry?" Hoggle seemed to be in a particularly nasty mood at the moment, as he crossed the room and glared at the bird on top the sleeping man.

The bird's beady eyes narrowed as it spat, "What's the matter? Can't handle a little Bog?"

"Feather brain!"

"Dwarf droppings!"

"Stupid nasty foul mouthed red turkey!"

"You leave my mother out of this!!!"

There was a loud snort.

Both Hoggle and the bird hat turned to a reddening face with tears streaming down. Sarah looked like she was struggling as one hand held her side and the other covered her mouth. It was too much; the gummy worms, the mistaken trip to the Bog of Eternal Stench, and now this. Hoggle's hand was reaching out to steady her when she couldn't hold it in anymore.

Sarah laughed.

Hoggle blinked, and then reluctantly, because it _was_ kind of funny, started to chuckle. Since Sarah didn't stop, the laughing escalated until everyone was laughing along with her, and not just any laughter, but no holds barred guffawing. Well, except for the bird, who promptly turned his head away from them in disgust.

It felt good. Really good, to let the pain go and truly laugh for once.

For the moment, there were no secrets from her parents. No mysterious dreams that left her shaken and her eyes burning. No fear as to what she and her friends would do now. No thoughts about how the Labyrinth didn't exist for her friends except as little bits and pieces in baubles. It was near hysterical, the laughter, but it was also cleansing.

Feeling the tension drain away into mild giggles, Sarah and her friends forgot about their problems…at least for now.


	8. Troubled Dreams

A/N: I originally had this and the next chapter together, but it seems better separate. Sorry for the confusion. Again thank you for reading.

Faith Enduring

Disclaimer: I do not own the Labyrinth or its characters; they are property of Jim Henson, Lucas Films, and Dennis Lee. This fanfiction is not made for profit in anyway; it is only further proof of my love for the movie and that I have an overactive imagination.

Chapter Eight

It was happening again.

After hours of tossing and turning, she knew she had succumbed to slumber.

The dream never changed, never altered, and she stood like an invisible specter as she watched for a few moments the graceful sweep of wings that bought him to her that first day. The park was lush and green, and she watched Jareth in his owl form, land on a stone made point near the water's rippling edge. Then, like the other dreams before it, she felt pulled, compelled toward that snowy white. When she reached the base of the stone arch he rested upon, she was transported, suddenly seeing everything through his eyes, with his thoughts accompanying her as if they were her own.

She watched in a strange omnipotent gaze, as the form of her self little more than a month ago, ran over the bridge in a white gown, clutching in her hand a red hardbound book.

_Sarah._

It always startled her, his first thought, wondering as always if he knew she was there in his mind. Once again she realized he meant the other Sarah, the one who would foolishly wish her brother away and then run through the Labyrinth. Watching herself reciting the lines from the book as dark clouds gathered over them in the sky, Sarah futilely wished she had never gone through this, never brought him or her friends pain; that she had been strong enough to have not needed the lesson. Jareth's voice startled her again, and she left off her internal dialogues.

_Her name is Sarah. I can feel her pain…her loneliness. _

She found herself looking away as she remembered his next thought.

_She is beautiful._

The clock tower over the public library struck seven, and Sarah watched herself run through the rain, with Merlin right behind her heels.

The angry exchange between herself and her step mother caused her to cringe, as she saw through Jareth's eyes the vision of herself two years from now. Toby's scream. His finger, burnt black and swollen, still stuck in the socket, and the frantic call to 911.

"DAMN YOU!" her step mother would cry later that night, "How could you? How – you were supposed to be watching him!"

Shaking from pain and fear, Sarah snapped, saying anything no matter how hurtful, to help herself alleviate the guilt, "Shut up! He's not MY child!"

There was a loud slap.

Both step mother and step daughter were stunned by what happened. Sarah gingerly touched her cheek and looked up to see Karen's face contort. Karen opened her mouth as if to say something, then changed her mind. Angry tears still in her eyes, she turned away from Sarah. For a moment Sarah just stood there, looking at the spot where Karen wasn't. And then…she too, turned away.

Sarah mentally gasped as the vision ended, and if she could she knew she would have felt tears trailing down her cheeks. A sense of anger and steely resolve gripped her and she realized she was feeling Jareth's emotions.

_This will not happen. You and your brother will not have to suffer this future._

And Sarah was lifted upon Jareth's strong wings up to Toby's room. Waiting as the rain fell in heavy drops, for the right words.

Ten minutes passed and Sarah could feel the magic brewing, the energy stirring as forcefully as the distant thunder.

_Use you mind Sarah. Feel with your heart what needs to be created. Your brother will be taken, but what test will you run? Who will you stand against? What dangers await you?_

And somewhere she felt it, the answering call of magic manifested. Snippets of her fancies, and whimsical desires thrown haphazardly until something whole and complete emerged. She felt it, just like when she could tell when Hoggle and the others were in her room, only this time so much stronger. Her whole body thrummed with magic as potent as electricity. The Labyrinth called to her as strongly as if someone stood next to her and whispered in her ear.

Jareth smiled to himself, admiring her work, seeing in his mind's eye a castle formed in the void. It had been a while since he worked with someone in their teen years. Younger children created replicas, a place they already knew and felt comfortable in, such as their home, a classroom, or perhaps a playground. But this girl, this Sarah, created a world she had never seen.

He found himself smirking, already getting an idea of who she wanted to fight against, and finding himself falling into character. An image of regality, of power, darkness and lordly black capes emerged in his mind.

_How…interesting._

Sarah blushed.

Both suddenly heard the light click on and waited for the words that would inevitably seal both their fate.

She saw herself try to placate the crying infant, telling a story and then rocking him in her arms.

Toby howled.

Sarah, the Sarah sharing Jareth's form, could feel the Goblins whispering behind the walls. _You fool_, she cried, as she watched herself turn toward Toby before shutting the light off.

"I wish the Goblins would come take you away…right now."

Sarah whispered his name over and over again, though he could not hear her, and she could not stop the churn of emotions that coursed through her at his last thought before entering her parent's room.

_For her._


	9. Into the Void

A/N: Sorry this is a little rough but I hope you like it all the same. Thank you for reading.

Faith Enduring

Disclaimer: I do not own the Labyrinth or its characters; they are property of Jim Henson, Lucas Films, and Dennis Lee. This fanfiction is not made for profit in anyway; it is only further proof of my love for the movie and that I have an overactive imagination.

Chapter Nine

The dream blurred, as if it had fast forwarded, through the whole labyrinth encounter. Thirteen hours had passed, and now both she and Jareth found themselves back in her world.

On a cold branch, she watched rain water run down in small rivulets over the smooth planes of her bedroom window.

A fierce ache lanced through her as she watched herself in the bedroom, turn around with a shout of joy, and run to hug her friends. The room glared with brightness, hurting the owl's eyes which were for the moment her own, but Jareth did not turn his gaze away.

_I can't live within you._

Pain, loneliness, sadness, all commingled into a dead weight that lodged itself into Sarah's chest. _Jareth…_her heart sighed. She could feel his despair as he longed to be on the other side of the window pane.

_I love you._

His thought burned inside of him even as he understood how ridiculous the notion was. The test was over. She was a stronger, wiser person. She would forget him, like everyone else did, and she would grow into someone even more beautiful, more lovely, because of the Labyrinth.

Sarah ached with this knowledge, and she wanted to tell him, how grateful she was, how much she admired him, and most of all - how she loved him also. But all she could do was watch helplessly, just as Jareth had done on that cold stormy night; just watch herself laugh amidst colorful confetti and party string, Jareth's forever untouchable.

And then she felt him stiffen in alarm. A sound, much like a small piece of wood cracking, caught Jareth's attention.

_The labyrinth._

A fire seemed to blaze in Jareth's chest as he looked one last time at Sarah's smiling face.

_I will do this for you. Your dream will not die!_

A confusing swirl of anger and triumph lifted them into the sky, as he vowed to himself to not let Sarah down. It was foolhardy, overly sentimental, but damn it, he would do this for her, because – because…

Her soft voice drifted in his mind as he soared higher and higher, toward the moon.

"_I don't know why, but every now and again in my life, for no reason at all, I need you…all of you." _

Sarah cried out his name but of course he could not hear her. Everything was just an illusion. She had never had any control over Jareth, not then, not now. Jareth's voice surged with conviction.

_You will have them Sarah. All of them. _

Sarah's mind balked as Jareth flew straight toward the moon, the light was intense and all encompassing, and then suddenly, a second of distortion snapped her vision to that of the castle. They were back in the Labyrinth.

She could see the edge of the dessert like planes surrounding the maze, sinking in, experiencing cave-ins beneath its arid soil.

Sarah watched as Jareth flew closer and closer to the castle, and then once through his bedroom's window, she watched as his shadow grew upon the stone floor. Calmly he unfastened the clasp on his shoulder and allowed his cape to fall. So grim and serious were the emotions flowing through them that Sarah was left awed.

His eyes closed and she could feel where the land and the castle were weakest. If he strengthened the foundation, he could have a few more days, and then –

_What - _

Jareth looked up at a strange feeling and suddenly stared at the fire crackling in his fireplace, calculating things in his mind she could barely grasp. The fire mesmerized him for a second. It leaped and curled in itself, and within the licks of flames he could make out a kitchen. Sarah was getting a glass of water. He watched her stare beyond the curtains, thinking things she shouldn't have.

_Don't do this to yourself. I will save them. And you will be happy._

He saw her head dip down in shame as her thoughts pulled him closer to the vision.

"I'm so sorry," she whispered.

Her name left his lips before he realized what he was doing. Sarah looked up into the reflection, startling both herself and the Goblin King. He heard something shatter just as he pulled himself away from the fireplace, dazed.

_Stop. You are here for her. Save her dream and nothing more._

Nodding his head in agreement he steadied himself. Methodically he pulled off his gloves and like his cape allowed them to fall.

Dropping to his knees, he slowly placed his hands palm down upon the cold floor, and with an internal hiss pulled magic from within himself and forced it into the thirsty stones.

Hours blurred by again for Sarah though she knew that weren't the case for Jareth, and still he forced the magic on steadily. His breath began to become labored and just when he thought he had to stop and rest, he felt her. Sarah. His Sarah… dreaming.

He closed his eyes and they both saw her anxious face, her hands braced upon the glass. She was in the masquerade ball room again, dreaming of, and wanting to be with him. Sarah could feel his exhaustion and a mixture of irritation and gladness as he warped that world and her dream world together, allowing her to see him.

She saw herself breathe his name, and Jareth struggled to have her hear.

_No Sarah. Please leave. Let me do this. Let me give you this. Your dream._

He staggered one step toward her, dragging the hidden magic out of him and it seemed to take everything he had.

_Sarah…_

It was not said, his lips were unable to form the word but his very soul whispered it to her.

Through the thick glass her name rang soft and crystal clear in her ears, laced with longing.

Jareth crumpled to the floor in exhaustion, the dream, the link between them broke, and Sarah knew she would find her earlier self sobbing in the arms of Karen.

In a moment, though for Jareth it may have been hours, she knew he would awaken. He would find her friends asleep in the throne room, next to a mass of sleeping goblins that would still have confetti tangled in their fur. She would see him wearily conjure a crystal and with a snap of his fingers they would be magically transported into their safe havens.

She witnessed his vigilant quest, the loss of the fairies, the painful departure of the old bag lady, and the shared dreams he visited. Through it all she could feel his love for her and his increasing despair. A cold numbness seemed to spread through his psyche, as well as a resolution that the feelings between them could not be allowed to grow into anything more.

_I can not give you what you want. _

Her heart broke all over again as he walked away from the last dream, his thoughts leaving him hollow and melancholy. That moment when he was dressed in white, where she was magically rooted to the floor, she felt him hesitate.

"Because of you, I can now do this, unafraid…and without doubt."

_I can not stay. But you have given me the chance to be something greater than the role I play. Did you even realize? I could have interfered, I could have enchanted you into staying…I could have shown you the truth and truly be despicable, and have had you forsake your brother, your family, the very foundation of your future. And now…now… _

She could feel his footsteps taking him closer to that frame of crackling darkness. The massive amount of energy was so overwhelming she could feel herself sway; and still he walked stolidly toward it.

_Sacrifice is not an option for villains, Sarah._

"Don't," she gasped, though she knew he could never hear her, it was too late, all these happenings had already become reality. His hand rested on the frame, and she recoiled from the venomous hum just beyond.

_I know what is in store for you, a loving home, a bright future, maybe even children. I wish…_

Again she felt something akin to regret, and she screamed so loud she thought she would break.

_Old friend…I wish you to guide her. She will mislead herself, and I will not have that. _

Before she could even contemplate about which friend he was talking about, the amulet vanished from his throat. Sarah felt its loss, like one misses air when under water.

He stepped on the threshold. A breath was taken, held, and then released.

_For her._

And his foot lifted.

Sarah expected to wake up now; she always did at this point, but instead found herself screaming.

Darkness and pain, and confusion, and, and –

Oh god, she cried, what is this? Was this what he felt as he left her? Why did it burn? Panic seized her, she had to be on fire, and there was so much pain. Then the searing feeling became secondary when she heard Jareth's frenzied thoughts.

_Sarah…the girl with large gray green eyes. Her raven hair whipping behind her as she ran toward a castle - toward the sound of her brother crying. Her eyes ringing betrayal after she bit the fruit…Dancing. Music…We were dancing. _

Sparks of light slashed behind their eyes – she almost passed out.

_She was beautiful with silver leaves lacing through her hair. Her eyes wide and mesmerizing as I took her hand. The soft pressure of her fingers…her palm pressing against my gloved hand as we swept through the room. Oh god never let me forget. Never – Sarah! Her name, Sarah. Just this once… dark hair. Broken glass. The labyrinth._

A memory rose bright as the sun behind her aching eyes: Sarah stood before him, looking down in anger, and then suddenly her eyes softened to surprise and then to dark realization. "You have no power over me."

_It burns! Stop! Stop! _But at that point she couldn't tell if she thought that or he did.

Memories one after another started to fade from her grasping mind and Jareth began to flail as he fell.

They broke the hard surface of what felt like freezing water and –

"Shh, shh child. It is only a dream."

Sarah blinked in the darkness, afraid she was still there in that impossible void. But soon her eyes adjusted enough to find the lamp and turn the switch.

The light flooded the room and before her the old man with the bird on his hat was awake and sitting on the edge of her bed. He had come to her bed the moment she started to thrash and moan, understanding that a nightmare had ensued.

"Jareth," she gasped her eyes wide and fearful.

"It is just a dream. You are alright and he is unharmed." He wanted to calm her but didn't know how, never having dealt with young ladies. So he waited for the dream to leave her. But Sarah grabbed his wrist to get his attention.

"I know where he is," she whispered fiercely, "He is trapped in the void."

His hand jerked away from hers in surprise.

"No," the old man gaped at her, his bushy eyebrows rising over his eyes in an almost comical effect, "That is impossible."

"I swear it, he is there!"

The old man looked toward the bird and he too shared a knowing glance. The old man look troubled as he took her hand in his and said in a grave voice, "No my dear…what I mean is – that is something you should not be able to know."


	10. Hidden Manipulations

** A/N: This is important! I do not, I repeat, I do not want people to think I do not care about your thoughts. I have responded to every review that has shown up in response to chapter 9. I fear, however, that some of my replies did not get to reviewer's mailboxes because has been experiencing technical difficulties. If you have submitted a review and have not received a response, please tell me and I will write a new review reply! I wrote back! I care! I swear! I'm a feedback junkie as much as everyone else and it kills me if anyone thinks I don't appreciate their thoughts and opinions!** Phew. Okay, got that off my chest. Thank you for listening to my rant. And if you are still reading after all this time, then I especially want to thank you, for your patience and for your time :)

I am sorry for my inconsistent posting. And do tell me if you think the story is becoming tiresome. I can take it.

Faith Enduring

Disclaimer: I do not own the Labyrinth or its characters; they are property of Jim Henson, Lucas Films, and Dennis Lee. This fanfiction is not made for profit in anyway; it is only further proof of my love for the movie and that I have an overactive imagination.

Chapter Ten

Upon her rocking chair, and clothed in warm hues of brown cloth, with his scratchy white hair flowing over the sides of his eyes and down his chin, he was the picture of grandfatherly wisdom ready for a long nap.

The old man puffed on a well worn wooden pipe at her desk, near an open window. The bird on top his head looked bored, and took mild interest in only the lazy wisps of smoke that drifted toward the window screen, pulled out to mingle with the cold night air. Eyes closed into contented slants, he could have been assumed to have once again fallen asleep, except each breath seemed to draw in and release new sparks of hazy ashen breath.

_All this time. Right there, he had all the answers and he was right in front of me._

Sarah's hands gripped the bed cloth until her knuckles were white and trembling, as she stared, grappling with what to say. Hoggle stood next to her, his hand on her knee, as he asked with barely contained rage and suspicion, "Who are you?"

The old man lazily lifted one eye up and everyone could see that he was not the doddering old fool they had assumed earlier. It was too calculating, the look he presented, as he pulled the pipe out from the neat click of his teeth and said smiling, "Nigellen Corenous Octavian, at your service…but you may call me Nigel."

"Oi," cried the bird, "Do we have to make with the pleasantries? This group ain't such a friendly bunch if you know what I mean?"

Hoggle's eyes narrowed at the bird's hostile opinion.

"Deek," Nigel warned in a tone that left no room for argument and quite to the surprise of everyone present, Deek's feathers bristled but otherwise, he remained silent. At this point, Nigel looked at Sarah sitting on her bed, behind a safe wall of her three friends. He gave in to a moment of silent admiration, before he closed himself to further external emotions.

"Doubtless you have many questions…" he said, and everyone seemed to lean forward.

It was obvious what they wanted to know. It showed plainly on their eager and angry faces. _Why were we left here? What is to become of us? How did he, the old man, fit into this scheme? Why and how were we made?_

_Where is Jareth?_

The last one he knew to be the burning question in the valiant young lady the other three worshipped and protected. In fact, he knew that Sarah was the pivot upon which all of them now turned.

"I can see it in your eyes, what you wish to know," and at this he was speaking directly to Sarah. His eyes, she noticed, had somehow deepened in color, and for a moment she remembered a place of cold water, black starless skies, and her name echoing throughout its inky surface. Her heart started to race and her hands shook from the excess adrenaline as Nigel seemed to look into and beyond her green eyes.

"But my answer is another question," he replied.

Sir Didymous growled in the back of his throat, letting Sarah know that at the merest sign from her, he would leap into action. Hoggle, sneering, body tensing, had one hand on something hidden in his belt.

Sarah's brows came together and before she could say anything, the words, that had seemed so insignificant and confusing three weeks ago were repeated once again, "The way forward is sometimes the way back."

Nigel leaned back expectantly as if he had given them a significant piece of information.

Mouth agape, Sarah furiously blinked before stuttering, "B-b-but, my god, that is not even in the form of a question!"

Suddenly Hoggle leaped forward and to the shock of everyone present grabbed the end of the old man's beard, yanking him forward so that Nigel's wrinkled throat was pressed to the small blade Hoggle kept in one of the pockets of his belt.

"Damn it!" he seethed, "You will stop giving us the run around! Tell us what we need to kno- YEOW!!!"

Protective of its master Deek struck! Horror stricken, Sarah ran to her friend who was cursing, tears running down from pain as he tried to wring the neck of the bird that had a death grip on his nose with its strong beak. Both were growling. Struggling against each other as a thin line of red trickled down Hoggle's angry face.

"Oh my god – stop! Please, we'll do this your way, just let go!" Sarah cried but the bird's eyes were glazed over with hatred and perhaps lack of oxygen in such a death grip. Nigel did nothing to interfere but watched with calm indifference.

Then a sound, soft and low keened onward like the remnants of a dream one wakes up from and wants to desperately remember. It promised calm, safety, and was filled over brimming with regret that what once was real became lost. Hoggle's hands dropped weak and powerless as tears of another type came unbidden. Everyone felt its spell and was swept away. It was a song. And the lyrics were stars, clouds, and brittle grass growing, connecting, reaching… The bird let go in surprise as a feeling of strong earth upholding them, from underneath where the stones sing, pushed up and reminded them of…

_Home_, thought Hoggle and Sir Didymous, as Ludo, arched his throat for one last lingering note.

Sarah closed her eyes and felt the warm tepid air pass over her, and rustle through the dry fingers of trees. The sand gave slightly under the weight of her shoes, and the smell of baked earth and warm stones filled her lungs.

The castle of the labyrinth rose old and majestic in their minds. When it faded, and all that could be felt was the soft give of tan colored carpet and the brush of cold night air mixed with the scent of ripe tobacco, the magical effects still echoed in them. Sarah turned Hoggle away who batted away her attentions with a, "so'kay, I'm fine," as he pressed a handkerchief to his swollen nose.

Sir Didymous patted his companion on the shoulder and Hoggle looked away slightly ashamed. Sarah turned so that her back faced Nigel and she fought the pain of losing the labyrinth and the anger at this mysterious old man, a supposed friend of Jareth, who demanded she answer stupid riddles.

Why couldn't anyone give her a straight answer? Riddles! Secrets! Half told information! Did no one trust her to handle the truth? She sat back on the bed in frustration.

Feeling the tension and seeing the hard gazes upon him, Nigel raised one hand up in warning. "Believe me or not, your understanding of that one sentence is the key to all further questions." Suddenly in a grave voice that demanded attention, he tilted his chin up and said, "Jareth demanded I remind you of this truth."

A long moment followed.

So many emotions crossed Sarah's face that Sir Didymous stopped growling and Hoggle, his nose forgotten, placed a worried hand on her forearm.

Sarah tried to swallow but found her throat was too dry. Tears welled in her eyes against her will, and spilled, blurring the walls of the room, running down her cheeks and then her hands as she tried to stop the flow.

"He's not coming back," she said, stating it not as a question, but what was a strong supposition quickly turned fact. Nigel answered by dropping his gaze and because he had nothing else to do, began to draw on his pipe again.

Oh god, why couldn't she think straight at this point? And going backward to go forward? What on earth did that mean?

Betrayal burned her throat as she seemed to pull in herself, her face hidden behind clenching hands. And when the wave of hurt slightly lessened the epiphany slowly came through. The pendant was always around her. She had worn it close to her heart ever since their parting as a connection somewhat to Jareth. And right now, a warm feeling suffused her and pointed through her confused mind, what Jareth had been trying to teach her since they met.

Toby was the first pictured. An image of him in his red and white striped pajamas crying, reaching his arms out to be comforted and held rose swift and crystal clear in her mind. Karen, with her blond hair stylishly put up in a neatly coiled French roll, looking oddly vulnerable the moment she asked Sarah to shop with her for a new blouse. Her dad, who had long ago thought that she hated him for his divorce and that it was far too late to repair old grudges, began to lose that look of resignation. A feeling of love and triumph filled her, stopping her tears, and she wondered how her feelings could so abruptly change.

Ludo, Hoggle, and Sir Didymous started when she suddenly grabbed the pendant around her neck, and with a small snap, flung it onto the beige carpet, where it bounced and then landed at the feet of the old man. Nigel did not flinch.

"You," Sarah said, voice low and harsh, "and Jareth," her words stopped briefly with a gasp of incredulity, "you've both been manipulating me since the beginning! You – you bastard!"

Dark obsidian eyes lifted and Sarah could easily imagine him once a mighty wizard, the only thing missing from the picture was a wand. "The answer Sarah," he demanded, "What is the answer?"

"Fuck your answer!" Sarah shouted, her hands held in tight fists at her side as she practically towered over everyone.

Her friends looked startled but the old man's eyes blazed with a look of superiority as he set his back to the chair. "I can see it burning in you. But you refuse to acknowledge all that you have learned." Nigel paused in thought. "Sometimes," he said in emphasis, "the process of figuring out the question is most often the answer."

_The way forward is sometimes the way back._

The fight leaked out of her like helium from an old balloon. What was the point anyway? How could she fight a question? An unfair question at that. How could Jareth expect this of her?

_Toby. Karen. Dad._

Her head dipped. "To return home," she whispered.

Stooping down, she gingerly picked up the thrown amulet and all the responsibilities it carried. Jareth breaking the eye out with a sharp knife came to her mind as she fingered its silver and gold finish. Scratches adorned the innermost folds, evidence of the necessity to protect her dream, her friends, for…for…

"…For me to go back home. I was never meant to return to him…to the labyrinth…I was to go forward in my world, by leaving the labyrinth – choosing to go back home," she gulped. "He can't ask me of this," she protested weakly.

"Please. You must tell me where he is. You must take me to him."

"Child," Nigel asked as he doused his pipe and set it lying on its side on her vanity table behind him, "do you know how old our dear Jareth is?"

"I know he's older than me but that doesn't matter," she said starting to feel cross again.

"My dear he has seen the rise and fall of your world's civilizations."

"W-what?" and at this point her voice was a squeak of its former confidence.

The harsh glint of Nigel's eyes softened, and he almost looked kindly on Sarah's stricken face. _Jareth,_ he thought to himself, _in your need to blindly protect you have really hurt this one._

He reached out, held her hands, and like a lost child she knelt down to listen.

"Even he doesn't know how old he is my dear. He knows not his real name, nor how he came to be. Only that his purpose is to help others by being a force they must contend against. By being a villain, he helps create heroes."

Nigel smiled at her, a soft smile that seemed to be filled with pride and pain. Sarah felt like she was suffocating.

"You are young...and idealistic. One of the reasons you stood out in his mind was that you actually looked past the surface of people, and you cared for others no one else trusted. That makes you incredibly naive...but also noble. You chose to see past his evil persona and for that he was eternally grateful."

Green eyes lifted and then looked back down, trying to work past the knot in her throat, "I don't want his gratitude," she whispered, choking back tears, "I want him. I want to see him. I want to tell him how much he helped me! How much he gave so that I learned not to resent but to love! To tell him - that I - that I..."

The words hurt too much.

She loved him. How could she love him when she barely knew him? Oh but she did. Selfish, ignorant willful Sarah fell in love...with a man who left her.

Gnarled long fingers lifted her chin up so that she would hear his words better.

"He really cared about you. He has never saved a dream before. It has cost him much."

"How come you by this information Sir, if I may be so bold?" It was Sir Didymous's voice that now questioned Nigel. Proud noble Sir Didymous, in his blue hat and brazen red jacket, placed his tiny gloved hand on Sarah's shoulder, offering comfort. To this day she still could not quite comprehend that she had made him up. How on earth could a selfish girl think up someone so noble and giving?

Nigel then said matter of fact, "Unlike you and your courageous friends, I was not made by Sarah, nor was I created by Jareth. Like he, I can not recall my origin. My purpose is to aid him in whatever ways I can. I was to help you Sarah," he took out a rough but clean cloth out from his pocket and gave it to her to wipe away her tears. "The ultimate lesson here," he says to Sarah, "is for you to care for your family. To care for others. To become wiser, to learn what you find interesting with passion, and to find beauty within yourself and within a world everyone suspects is ugly. Do not destroy all he worked for by pining for him."

Sarah's eyes widened. "But...how could he ask this of me. To forget him, like some insignificant lesson in a study book?"

"You must forget him."

"Never! How can you even say that to me?"

"Because he has already forgotten you."

Sarah's mouth opened and then closed. She crumpled before the wise man's feet and Hoggle rushed to her and held her steady. Her eyes burned and her body felt as if it were with fever. She felt dizzy.

"N-no. He wouldn't..."

"He has. Not willingly of course. But a dream takes a lot of magic to become created. When it loses its purpose the dream breaks and all the magic that was used to create it rushes back to the one responsible for its creation and demise. Such a huge amount of magic all at once is like an inferno and when a fire burns it consumes. The pain wipes away all memory of that dream and all that is left is echoes of feelings much like the ash is left after the blaze."


	11. Breaking Limitations

Faith Enduring

Disclaimer: I do not own the Labyrinth or its characters; they are property of Jim Henson, Lucas Films, and Dennis Lee. This fanfiction is not made for profit in anyway; it is only further proof of my love for the movie and that I have an overactive imagination.

A/N: I am so tired right now. What time is it? 2:30 am!!! Yikes! Oh well, sleep is over rated. Please, please, let me know what you think. If it's too confusing, please let me know, or if anything just feels wrong. Pretty please?

Chapter Eleven

"Oh my god…I…Oh god," she wheezed. Hoggle patted her on the back wondering what to say to calm her down. "Everything?" her voice asked incredulously. "You mean he has forgotten…"

_Me?_

"The Labyrinth?"

She suddenly remembered being with him, experiencing his pain, as the idea of memories like photographs burning into ash and crumbling through his fingers assailed her.

Nigel patted the top of her head as she leaned against his knee; he wondered how much was safe to tell her. In all the time he had lived and helped Jareth, there was never a case quite like Sarah's. No one had ever affected his friend in such a manner, especially if what she had said earlier was true. He wondered how it would affect her to know his role within after the dream dies. She would undoubtedly be easily swayed away from the course Jareth had left free for her. No it would be better if he with held such vital information…for now. It would be wiser to reassure her of what Jareth had hoped to accomplish.

"Sarah," he smiled, and the wrinkles around his eyes crinkled just right, "Don't you see. You have given him something no one else has given him. The chance to be someone better, the chance to be a hero. He could have interfered…enchanting you to have him in your life. You in your blind adoration would have become dependant upon him, forsaking your wants, your dreams for his."

Sarah's brow creased slightly. Was her sense of self that crippled? Would she have lived in Jareth's shadow if she had chosen him above Toby? Above herself?

"By walking away," he continued, watching her follow his lead, "he felt that he was giving you your future. He was sacrificing what he wanted for you, taking the path of pain. No one had ever given him the opportunity to be the better man…to choose.

His words came back to her like a sense of deja vu. _Sacrifice is not an option for villains, Sarah. _ "I'm afraid my dear, that it is the truth. Jareth is incapable of remembering the dream once it returns to him. That is when my role comes into play. You have seen everything he has, seen the memories of the labyrinth, of his decisions to safeguard your dream because of the pendant. It is a powerful source of neutral magic which I can tap into, keeping the hidden memories safe until the dream is gone, and then restoring it back to him.

Sarah looked up, startled, a moment of innocence suddenly morphed into angry indignation. Her hands gestured wildly at him as she spoke.

"What? Then why don't you go to him? Give him his memories back? I will go with you right now!"

Nigel crooked one bushy eyebrow up at her and said quite seriously, "Sarah. Do you really think that if I possessed the ability to go and help him I would be sitting here making idle chit chat?"

"But…" Sarah said, now massaging her temples as a new headache seemed to form, "but you said…"

"All I said was that I possess the ability to invoke the memories back to him. Traveling back to the land where once reined the Labyrinth. Only beings with great amounts of power are able to accomplish that feat."

"Then…then how…?"

"You mean," Nigel said in a scholarly voice, "how am I able to help him then? Jareth has never gone into the void by himself before. He has always brought me along. I can not travel there any more than you can. I am only a safeguard, I hold the amulet and then after the…attack, I can then channel everything back to him."

Sarah was speechless.

"It seems," he continued, nonplussed, "that I was left here to become your advisor. Jareth does not need me anymore. Pity, really."

"Why?" the question was spoken so quietly, it was almost as if Sarah hadn't said a word. "Why would he do such a thing?"

Nigel placed his hand under his chin, giving the impression of confusion and deep concentration. "This has never happened before," he sighed. Sarah buried her face in her hands and asked behind the hot flush of her overheated palms, "Did he...do you think he left you behind so that he could truly forget about me?"

He didn't speak for one moment, and then intensely looked at Sarah, gauging her reaction. "It is possible…" he admitted hesitantly, then quickly added, "But from what you have described...from your dreams...I believe he slumbers." Sarah's head came away from her hands and the lines pressed there made her look old and surreal. "You make that sound like something unusual," she said in a tone obviously worried and agitated. "In the void, oh yes, one does not rest there. It is safer to sleep in your world or in the safety of a dream...but in nothingness...for someone who never dreams..."

The pause he left hung like a death sentence. "What on earth does that mean?" she hissed.

"In the absence of light, where dreams are born and where they die, there is no marking of time. Jareth is incapable of dreaming, that is something only those such as you are capable of, people who depend on your own memories, on your passions, and your need to fulfill your unmet desires. The labyrinth does not exist as it used to. Jareth will have no memories and I am not there to help him. He will sleep, incapable of dreams, and in his mind will be perpetual nothingness. But do not fear. It is a painless sleep. And no harm will befall him in a place where nothing exists."

Sarah's mouth gaped open for a second before a new wave of anger shook her."You have got to be fricking kidding me! You call sleeping and never being able to wake up, harmless!!!!!! My god, how is that any  
different from death?!?!?" "Because…" he said with solemn dignity, "it is not."

Nigel said no more and closed his eyes in concentration. Soon, sounds such as someone snoring came through, and Sarah nearly gave to hysteria.

The bird on Nigel's head was ominously silent; as if he knew something they did not, but should know. Hoggle assumed it was just a look of cold contempt. Sir Didymous decided to keep vigilance upon them both.

Sarah stood up on shaky legs and abruptly left saying, "I – I need to go…I –" and she fled the room before anyone could gather where she was going.

x—X—x

It was Sir Didymous who grasped Hoggle's elbow and turning him, whispered, "Sir Hoggle we must speak with one another. Within a crystal."

Hoggle looked at him curiously before his gaze slowly slid to the side toward the old man snoring in the corner and the bird glaring at them both. Sir Didymous silently applauded the dwarf's astuteness and crafty suspicious nature. The gallant fox confirmed what he meant by nodding and they both took Ludo by the arms and disappeared to converse in one of the many forests.

x—X—x

Deek sniffed.

"They are not fooled Nigel. They are not the stupid idiots I first pegged them for." The Bird craned his head over the brim of the old man's hat just as the sounds of snoring abruptly ended.

Nigel picked up his pipe, which had been lying on its side on the wood desk. He wiped the fallen ash off and tapped the cold spent tobacco out into his handkerchief. The cloth was still damp from Sarah's tears. No matter, it would still get the job done. He dropped the soiled handkerchief into the trash bin once he was done.

"She doesn't know," he said, matter of fact, as he withdrew a small satchel from his robes and refilled his pipe with fresh tobacco.

"You lied to her Nigel."

The old wise man struck a match and the sudden scent of phosphorus flared before their faces.

"Deek, in my whole life I have never told a lie. I just withheld a bit of vital information."

"Uhuh," said Deek, watching the tobacco and blaze meet in the pipe bowl, and watched light grow beneath the raw material. "And what exactly is the difference?"

Nigel put away the satchel and the gnarled long fingered hand that held the pipe made a small flourish, twisting the smoke in a different direction.

"The difference? Well…we shall see, now won't we?"

The pipe was puffed on and silence filled the room again, pipe and conversation kept in place by the clasp of his old teeth.

x—X—x

Sarah rushed down the stairs into the living room, and stopped, gasping air in as the tears threatened once again. God she was so sick of crying. So tired of feeling helpless and vulnerable. She leaned her hot forehead against the cool white wall. From that spot she could have turned into the kitchen or moved to the coach nearby, but she stayed there, trying to calm the surge of emotions that claimed her and made her dizzy.

How she yearned for that brief moment, in pathetic uncertainty, to revert back to childhood. To be too young to make choices or have responsibilities, the lazy happiness of having someone else shoulder all her problems and inequalities. A child...who did not make decisions that affected so many other beings. Who created worlds that existed only in the young creative mind, and not real lands with twisting walls, and crevices, not where homes were kept, and clothing sewn, and mead drunk companionably. She did not want to see her parent's faces in her mind, frowning in confusion at her inability to conform to their understandable and well placed standards. Nor did she wish to think about what her choice to forsake the labyrinth had done to Jareth.

She nuzzled her hand and felt the deep contrast between cool paint and the heated skin of her tear stained face and it reminded her of his kiss. She desperately wanted him safe. And to be brutally honest she would have given anything to have him stand next to her at that moment if only to berate her. She could see him in her mind so clearly, knowing he would peer down at her and say something like, "Did you really think everything would happen as they do in fairy tales? You take far too much for granted Sarah."

Such a harsh, arrogant man.

But then she wondered how much of that character was actually his? How much influence had she inflicted willing him to "live up to her expectations?" It was such a painful shock their last meeting. His appearance in the last dream was no different than when she had rejected the moment before the clock struck 13. He had worn a white mantle that seemed to reflect himself at mid transformation between human and bird. But his demeanor, so unlike that of what she believed made up the so said "Goblin King," humbled her. His eyes were so much older than she had last suspected. Harrowed even, as if he had done everything anyone had asked of him and was still found wanting.

_I'm sorry._

She turned and stood in one of the many doorways.

How many angry and confused children had he aided, only to forget him at the drop of a hat? How many worlds had he seen, created, and then felt drift into wreckage and nothingness? Creatures like Ludo, Hoggle, goblins, and Sir Didymous, all left to disappear with nobody to mourn their deaths because they were only dreams and apparitions. No other useful function left but to serve as a pleasant memory. Sarah's jaw clenched at the unfairness of it all.

_It isn't right._

The thought was startling clear.

Dawn filtered in through the plastic slats in the window, softening the dark gray room. A feeling of something inevitable pulled her through the kitchen, and out the back door.

Yes…it was unfair…but sometimes people allowed unfairness to govern their logic. Being ignorant and unfair was the only logical answer…if you accepted such limitations. What restrictions was she accepting right now?

The cold air…it was so different outside…as if it breathed her, instead of the other way around. Sarah closed her mind around the pacing surge of her thoughts.

Jareth... how much influence did he inflict on her up until this moment, willing her to live up to his expectations? She had learned from the labyrinth...and now she was expected to drift through life a normal average girl? Get A's in school? Join the cheerleading squad perhaps? Meet a guy in college and have two point five kids?

A wild fluttering developed in her heart just as the sound of thunder began. Wind swept pass as her naked feet sank into the dew moistened earth. It felt cold, real, and for once she felt grounded.

Her parents loved her. They only wanted what was best for her; only wanted her to have a wonderful normal life full of challenges and relationships. But what if she wasn't normal? What if what she needed didn't exist in this world?

The initial friendly greeting of morning became overshadowed by mist as the sky darkened. A drizzle began and cloaked her as she lifted her arms out, accepting…

_Magic._

The sky cracked with a bolt of lightning.

The rain fell harder and she wanted to drink in all that cold natural freedom.

Her eyes opened and blinked in the consistent downpour. They were wrong, she finally realized.

All of them. Even Jareth.

Especially Jareth.

Sarah understood… she did not have to be helpless anymore.

And the amulet glowed.

x—X—x

The forest was cool and dark. The fire they had built days ago still burned in its neat little circle of stones Ludo had asked to be arranged. They never questioned the crystal's ability to keep both creatures and elements alive and well.

"I don't like them," said Hoggle hunching close to watch the flames, "they're up to no good." The shadows played across his wrinkled face and made him look grotesque when he frowned and pulled a twig from under his seat and threw it crossly away.

Sir Didymous eyed the flames also but his mind was working on different ideas and revelations. "They are with holding information from the lady Sarah true, but my comrades, that they are not the reason I asked you to rally here."

"Huh?" asked Ludo. Hoggle looked similarly perplexed.

"I smell a great change taking place. It began some time ago, very faint, but now it is almost overpowering."

"But…" said Hoggle hesitatingly, afraid of incurring Sir Didymous's wrath over such a sensitive issue, "you can't smell a thing."

The old fox smiled.

"Sir Hoggle…Brother Ludo…" he said in a soft chiding voice, "my nose is never wrong with the scent of magic."

The Forest suddenly radiated, as if a full noon day sun rose and shone over its leafy canopy. Ludo trembled as the stones around the fire and the few saved, clustered within the dirt surrounding the many trees roots, sang a song of joy. The very air vibrated with a strange excited energy.

"What is it?" cried Hoggle, "Is it that old man? Is Nigel behind this?"

"No," whispered Sir Didymous, taking a great lungful of air, tasting the current, knowing it for what it was. "He is not the one causing this."

x—X—x

Deek looked up, startled, as he too felt the air change.

"She has realized," the old man whispered.

Nigel calmly took the pipe out of his mouth and smiled. It seemed it had made a difference after all.

x—X—x

The absence of rain alerted her that she was dreaming. She was dreaming… and she knew what she was doing. Her mind slowly let go the scent of freshly cut grass and the sound of wind sweeping through branches, and she became aware of silent water.

She was gliding. No. She was floating…mere inches above the surface, and each step brought her feet closer. It was almost peaceful, the quiet tranquility that rippled from her movement and absolutely no light as far as the eye could see. The entirety had the feel of a great yawning cavern, but she knew that feeling was her mind trying to limit the place, put it in words and description to make her feel more in control. The truth was that the darkness had no boundary. No walls. No sky. A pocket of forever that existed within the universe. She did, briefly, miss the light of stars. She could feel the surface tension slowly break under her feet as with each step she took, she became more submerged. No earth, no stones, just the gentle acceptance of her weight pulling her down. Further. Her fingertips skimmed through. Then her elbows. There was one second of innate panic when the black liquid came to her nose, and she cleared away the fear with thoughts of Jareth, and only Jareth. His long lithe form, the haunted yet calculating eyes, the timber of his voice when it taunted, and the life it took when caressed by music. She imagined him as a white owl; flying through the night, acknowledging his role as a predator, accepting the responsibility of protector…accepting… Her head was under.

She could feel the weight of the water lift and slide through her hair. Her breath did not release in relief, she had never held it, for her real body was still in her world, warm and safe in bed. Sarah's hand, both in bed, and in the water, clasped the slight bulk of gold and silver hanging on a silk cord around her throat. It comforted her and it guided her, with no certain terms, just a slight inclination that could only be heard in a land where no natural sound existed. Time passed with nothing to measure it. Her arms pushed and pulled with no burn of fatigue until a faint spot of pale caught her attention. Floating under the waters invisible current he looked like a beautiful inanimate doll someone had discarded. It was his fair hair that broke the black monotony. With no light existing in this world, it was not possible to have seen him, but then again, her Jareth always did defy logic. And her being able to find him in such vastness proved she was just as much a rebel. Nearing him her heart tightened. Hands lifted and touched his cheek, slid through his hair. Clutching his clothes by his shoulders she pulled him to her and held him. "Do not forget me," she begged, shaking now, though whether from relief at seeing him or fear of losing him, she could not tell. His heart, under her straining ear, beat consistent and unhurried. Asleep. He was asleep. What was he dreaming? She moved forward and she could feel the satin sway of their hair tangling together like seaweed, as she brought her mouth to his.

"I will find you," she thought, kissing his cold lips. Tears warm and real melted from her eyes and merged with the void as the promise burned her, consumed her.

Her hands clenched tight, fisting cloth, when his eyes opened a fraction in bleary unawareness.

"Jareth," her heart thumped. Hands, trembling and fragile, reached up and smoothed the hair away, palms resting on his high cheekbones. A battle ensued where he fought to see her through his mental fog and she through her tears.

_See me. Remember me. Know that I love you._

A sigh, her name, caressing and breaking her as his unfocused eyes closed once more.

The power within her became unclear. She could feel it thin and she realized she was returning to her body in her world. She could not reach him without her real body…there was still one thing more she had to do, before everyone could be free.

"_I will find you,"_ though out of her mouth not one single sound was uttered. The blackness started to blur into gray and her eyes could not see him anymore though she fought one second more to blindly feel the cloth of his shirt under her fingertips.

It was still raining.

"I will find you," she whispered to the dark cloud clustered sky, tears sliding down the sides of her face to soak into tangled strands of hair as she took one more shaky breath to exhale, "have faith."


	12. Expectations

**A/N: Hi everyone! Thank you all again for reading! I made one mistake in the last chapter but I do not want to correct it bc I might lose the corresponding reviews – so please just ignore the part where I wrote that Sarah's body was warm in bed. I was so tired last time I didn't see it, and the chapter actually reads that she was standing in the backyard. So…Sorry about that :p**

**I am trying to write more but I'm so tired lately from holiday sales and late hours. Today was my day off, so here's what I have so far. I want to thank everyone who has taken the time to write a review – THANK YOU! I especially want to thank Anij for hurrying me :)**

**PS – I will write more this Sunday. Please tell me if the story's pace is too slow, or if you have any complaints so far.**

Faith Enduring

Disclaimer: I do not own the Labyrinth or its characters; they are property of Jim Henson, Lucas Films, and Dennis Lee. This fanfiction is not made for profit in anyway; it is only further proof of my love for the movie and that I have an overactive imagination.

Chapter Twelve

His heart soared as he lifted higher into the clear blue sky. The air tasted sweet and cool…a clean oblivion for him to rise into, away from the darkness. He snapped at the air and took satisfaction with the strength of his beak, with the swift muscles in his wings that lifted him even higher. The evergreens lost its pointy texture and became a green carpet punctuated by buildings and parks.

He flew, confidently toward something, though he knew not what. It was a pulling; a subtle inclination that all dreams seem power to induce, so that he followed unquestionably, gradually flying lower into the town.

The shiny hoods of cars reflected him one instant before eyes of pedestrians lifted an instant too late to see a snow white owl in the daytime. He became a flash of white across window panes, and streaked past red lights.

The need to be there grew stronger. There? What was there? He did not know but his heart pounded with the inevitability of it all. And out of suburban nothingness emerged a park. It felt significant, the green enveloping his senses, the scent of water almost overwhelming… the quiet.

And then she…the only person in the whole park, a world within its lush center, nearly caused his heart to burst, though again he knew not why. Her hair was swept up into a messy braid, pinned and held by gaudy plastic flowers and paper stars. Her makeup was imperfect. But her eyes were mesmerizing in its depth and color, haloed by dark lashes, serious and intense. The grass blurred around his vision so that the only clarity was her… this young woman with white flowing around her in the form of a costume.

_Sarah._

The word burst in his mind and melted on his tongue. He knew her not but understood the sound of her name more than the beating of his heart and the burning in his eyes.

"Sarah" meant the air that pushed him to flight, the blue upholding the clouds, the green blades underfoot, water filling everything up to the point of gasping…the name meant longing.

She lifted her arm up for him to come home to, the most intimate perch created. Desire clenched the air out of his lungs. He wanted that arm and all it signified more than anything…even if it meant giving up flight. He wanted her soft hand to pet the feathers of his face, wanted to hear her whisper soothing sounds, endearing sounds a mistress will utter to her pet.

_I will be your slave,_ echoed in his mind like dejavu.

He was so close, changing his angle, flapping to slow his descent, his talons unfurling…

She smiled.

He panicked.

Suddenly, realizing almost too late, he stopped, awkwardly hovering over her unprotected arm, flapping wildly, and rose above her with a cry. The loss mingled with his confusion as he flew away without looking back, ashamed that at his most joyous moment, he nearly allowed his sharp claws to sink and slash into her arm.

The distance stretched behind him and filled in with his despair and self-loathing. And for a moment he wished he could blur too, for almost hurting her, for ever raising her hopes and dashing her expectations.

His only comfort to him was how "right" that moment of decision felt, that the embodiment of all that he loved would remain unscathed.

_Sarah…Sarah…_

The town drifted away from him and became stars over a sea of evergreens.

The dream shifted and the green melted into nothing.

x—X—x

The kettle was just beginning to hiss and whistle. Humming, Karen took down the tea bags and bottle of honey. On mornings like these, when the sky was gray and misty and when the rain fell gently, she thought a cup of hot tea was ideal. Robert always drank coffee, and normally she would have shared a cup and some toast, but there was something slightly romantic about misty mornings that called for her little stash of delicate china tea cups.

The dishes had been done last night and Karen smiled at how nice her kitchen looked. It was silly, she knew, but she took pride in the shine of the faucets and the uncluttered white tiles. Soon Robert would be down and he would have his coffee and toast, and Sarah would have her pop-tarts, and everyone would fill the morning silence with chit chat and spoons clanking. She loved that familiarity, but there was something wonderful and serene right before that moment.

Mornings, she mused, seemed so precious and fragile. If only the feeling could last all day…but already her mind was working, mentally going over the tidy list of chores she had set for herself. Taking her frail cup, one hand holding the saucer and the other stirring the dark liquid sweetened just right, she remembered that Robert always read the morning paper with his coffee.

The door opened and a slant of cold rain fell and rippled the surface of her hot tea. Karen's eyes widened.

"My God! Sarah – what are you doing out here? You'll catch your death of cold!"

Sarah did not turn around when she heard the door creak open. She had been sitting on the green steps, thinking, feeling, listening…She had never expected the many facets of realizing her powers, and she was just coming to terms with focusing and hazing it out.

_So many out there…_

Her clothes were drenched, and the muscles of her arms clenched and trembled from the cold. She stood up carefully, slowly turning toward Karen's voice, trailing with her mind the sharp green imprint of her lawn, the water dripping from the potted plants, the dark hedges, and the crooked bird house nailed to the oak tree, before focusing on Karen's worried face.

Karen took a step back, wondering why her step daughter's eyes should worry her. She placed the tea cup down not quite far enough on the sink edge and distantly heard it clatter, spilling its contents.

She had to get a towel…for Sarah. Dear God what was the girl thinking? She had school. She could catch pneumonia… someone had told her that once, a neighbor most likely, that a simple cold could turn deadly if it morphed into pneumonia. Why was Sarah out in the rain? She was ice cold. Hot tea! No, coffee! Which was better?

"Karen…please stop."

Was she babbling? Karen couldn't remember speaking.

Karen had moved briskly to the kitchen doorway, wondering whether to give Sarah tea or get the towel, when Sarah's voice stopped her. It felt too strange all of a sudden. The kitchen looked too metallic, too white and shiny, with Sarah standing there, her hair flat and dark, her clothes dripping water next to the table chair. Sarah seemed so…bright, so intense.

"Would you please bring dad? I need to speak to both of you." She should have looked pathetic. Wet soggy teenagers in squishy sneakers should look pitiable. Why didn't Sarah?

Suddenly, Karen was afraid to leave that room. She couldn't explain it, but an irrational feeling swept her, that Sarah would vanish…leaving nothing more than a muddy puddle beside the table.

"Sarah?"

"Please Karen," she said gently.

Karen left.

x—X—x

Sarah sat down at the table and her body sighed at the comfort of a soft seat and a warm room.

Her eyes closed. She could still hear the rain tap against the window, know that as it slid down the glass and then the rough wood, it would eventually meet the grass and earth. It would return to where it was meant to go.

Though she sat straight, her hands comfortably resting in front of her on the table's calm surface, her mind flashed to Hoggle, Sir Didymous, Ludo…Jareth…the old wise man…Toby…her mother, Linda Williams…her dad…Karen…the other people like her…

"Sarah?" It was her dad's voice that made her eyes open.

Robert stood in a brown suit, standing almost uncertain in the doorway. His white collar was starched perfectly by Karen yesterday, and it looked crisp and right supporting the red tie he had picked out that morning. He was ready for coffee, normal conversation, and then a long day of work to support his family. Like Karen, everything was in perfect order, and Sarah hated the idea of breaking his comfortable expectations.

Her eyes blinked and in a hushed almost breathless voice said, "Dad?"

Suddenly Robert knew something was wrong.

_Drugs? Early teen pregnancy? Bullies? Depression? _

He opened his mouth and then closed it, and tried to stop the frenzied path his mind was taking. Sarah looked like a mess and would need him to be calm. And he would remain calm; until he is told some punk pervert touched or took advantage of his little girl.

_If someone has hurt her…_

He laid down his briefcase and sat opposite of Sarah. His daughter looked up expectantly at Karen and slowly, uncomfortably, she too sat down at the table.

"Down the street," Sarah said softly but very seriously, "there is a little boy. His name is James. His father was abusive and his mother is a recovering alcoholic…James was taken away by protective services and is now residing with a very kind guardian…but he is angry, often violent, and has a hard time adjusting. Last night he kicked her cat and was sent to bed without watching his favorite TV show. In a fit of revenge he took one of her most cherished items, a book, given to her by her late husband, and threw it into the fireplace."

Robert blinked. The abrupt ending of the story breaking the trance Sarah had somehow weaved around them. This was not at all what he was expecting but before he could ask Sarah what this had to do with them she continued.

"Four blocks away live two sisters. They are both talented but in different ways. One is artistic, thin and pretty. The other sister is overweight, feels unattractive, but is amazing in math. They both openly hate each other and secretly believe that their parents love the other more, because one is pretty and the other brilliant."

"Sarah?" Karen asked, her eyebrows frowning in puzzlement.

"In another state, a girl with short brown hair is being harassed by her babysitter, but she lacks the courage to tell her parents…she is ashamed they will think she is dirty. She is only ten years old and dreams of hands marring her body with mud."

"Sarah…" Robert tried again, confused and a little nervous, "how do you know all this?"

Sarah lifted her eyes and was silent, perhaps saying goodbye to this moment, before the line would be crossed. She could have left them easily, in the night, and not had to deal with this pain of disappointing them. But in her heart, she knew they deserved better than that, better than sleepless nights and police inquiry's, the endless self recriminations of "if only I had done this," or "Maybe if we had done that." Her parents would never have to ask themselves "Why?" or "Where is Sarah?" Even if they ended up hating her, at least they would be given the truth.

"I can help them."

Robert was startled by her conviction and briefly wondered if she meant she would grow up to be a social worker or child counselor. Karen twitched uneasily. Her thoughts were not quite so optimistic. The sense of Sarah disappearing was becoming stronger, and Karen never dismissed gut instinct. She watched Sarah's hand hesitate before daintily reaching up to push a wet strand of hair behind her ear.

"What I am about to tell you will sound foolish…even fantastical. But I need you," and here Sarah looked earnestly into the eyes of Karen and then Robert, "both of you to listen. This is not a game. This is not a cry for attention…but I do need your support."

Robert started to feel antsy. Karen wondered if she should call his work place and tell them that he was feeling unwell and needed some time off. She should probably call Sarah's school.

Both did not move.

"Okay," her dad said, placing his arms on the table, supporting his weight, and getting ready for a long tale. Karen forgot about making phone calls and also nodded her consent.

Sarah closed her eyes and took a deep breath. When she opened them, both Karen and Robert could almost swear they felt a warm dry breeze blowing gently against their face.

"There is a land," she said, almost wistfully, "called the Labyrinth."


	13. Misunderstandings

A/N: Sorry for the wait everyone! Man! This story is longer than I thought, sorry about that, there are just so many ideas running amuck. I thought I could finish this up in one chapter but…well you get the idea. Expect one or possibly two more chapters, depending on how many plot bunnies pop up (Anij stop giving those out! Christmas is over!)

**By the way, a big Thank You goes to Anij for reading over my stuff! Thanks Anij, you rock!**

And a big THANK YOU to everyone who has read and reviewed: NovelT, Anij, aimdiscord, notwritten, ohiowriter, spitfire21 – THANK YOU!!!

Faith Enduring

Disclaimer: I do not own the Labyrinth or its characters; they are property of Jim Henson, Lucas Films, and Dennis Lee. This fanfiction is not made for profit in anyway; it is only further proof of my love for the movie and that I have an overactive imagination.

Chapter Thirteen

Karen listened, amazed at the words coming out of Sarah's mouth. She could not imagine that what she was being told could possibly be real; it had to be Sarah's overactive imagination. What confused her, however, was how Sarah could tell such an amazing fantasy so calmly, so seriously, as if it were very important to her…as if this land called the Labyrinth were real.

No. Stop. What was she thinking? It was impossible what Sarah was telling them. Goblins, castles, Toby crawling upside down stairs, magical crystals…all of it made absolutely no sense. Why on earth was Sarah making this up?

Karen looked at Sarah again. Her dark hair was nearly dry now, and they curled from the initial dampness. But there was something else in Sarah's manner that caused Karen to doubt herself. Sarah was so confident, her eyes were so sure of what she was talking about… as if she truly believed she were there. Not only that but the room… something was wrong with it… as if the words, the presence of this dream pouring out from Sarah had made the kitchen tiny. Karen could almost believe that the room they were sitting in could actually be the fabricated one and that right outside was a giant maze, more true and substantial than the gray street she had been living next to for the past three years.

Sarah was telling them now about an old man, someone named Nigel, who could help her return to the void and rescue Jareth.

She did not notice how tight her husband's jaw had become. When Sarah spoke of the monarch named Jareth, Karen also missed Robert's scowl.

"Stop."

The word was whispered, so softly, Karen had almost missed it. She saw Sarah stretch forward across the table and grasp Robert's tightly clenched hands. Her eyes looked so sad.

"Dad, I have to find him. I must return to the Labyrinth, please try to understand…"

Robert slowly pulled his hands away from his daughter's.

"I understand all right."

Karen saw the wild look in Sarah's eyes, knew that she was hurt, though oddly, not surprised. The shoulders of her step daughter tensed, readying for anything, and Karen found herself unable to speak. Unable to stop whatever had been set in motion.

Robert's eyes narrowed.

"You don't have to lie anymore. Not to us. Not to me." The last word was emphasized so heavily, in such anger, Karen expected at least some sort of verbal retaliation from Sarah.

Sarah kept silent.

"So this is it?" Karen heard him say, low and tense, "This is your way of leaving us? You concoct this…this fairy tale, and you think we are so helpless in our affection for you, that – that we'll just look the other way?"

He stood up too abruptly, causing the chair to clumsily tip and smack the floor.

The shoulders of his brown suit trembled as he gripped the tile counter.

Sarah's whole body tensed, panicked, her eyes widened as she also hastily stood from her chair. Her hand reached out tentatively, hesitated, and then touched her father's shoulder.

"Dad," she whispered. He turned and faced her suddenly. Sarah jumped and stepped back from his anger, from the conflicted emotions storming in his eyes.

Both women heard the crack in his voice, felt his strain, as the words ground between his clenched teeth.

"I thought I could trust you."

x—X—x

Sarah stopped herself from cringing at his words. Her hands shook ever so slightly as her mind screamed at her, holding at bay the rise of remorse, guilt, and yes, the flicker of hot white anger at the injustice of it all.

_Don't you dare feel sorry for yourself Sarah! Not when he's in this much pain, not when your friend's home is riding on you, not when Jareth is out there alone!_

Sarah pushed away her shame and fear and opened her mind for just one glimpse into the emotions flying through the kitchen air.

She didn't mean to, honestly she didn't, all she had meant was to feel the words of his thoughts, figure out on her own why he was this angry. She knew he would not approve, she knew he would become mad, but why was he _this_ angry? So hurt and so full of despair that he was nearing violence?

She felt the warm suffusion of magic seep in from the amulet, under her shirt, into her body. She reached out with her mind, slightly unsure, and that's when things fell apart. What felt like a gentle mental push on her end suddenly felt like being sucked into a vortex. A memory burned in Robert's mind, catapulting his actions, as he saw this scenario between him and his daughter a reincarnation of a greater, earlier pain. And she, much too new with this power, was pulled into his unknowing mind.

It was late that night.

When he opened the door and threw his keys on the little table near the coat rack, the room was dark and very still.

"Honey?" he called out.

Robert walked up the stairs very quietly, assuming now that Linda had gone to bed without him.

It was the third time in a row that week he came home late, but his boss was saying good things about his performance, and if he could just get a few more clients… He held the bouquet of yellow flowers nervously, hoping Linda would understand. He wanted to get this promotion, be able to give more to his family.

For a moment he stood in the bedroom doorway, blinking, not comprehending. Their closet door was open, and most of its contents were missing. For one second he stupidly thought that they had been robbed…but he had passed the TV in the living room. No burglar would just steal clothes…

Robert sat on the bed in a daze, breathing hard, as the flowers fell in a quiet heap next to his shoe. Sometime later, as he sat in a stupor, the phone rang and eventually started the recorder.

"_Robert?"_

There was a pause. A breath was taken and the words sounded forced, tight with nervous energy. At least he assumed it was from nerves.

"_I…I guess you're still at work."_ There was another shaky breath. Robert's hand was an inch away from the top of the receiver, just about to pick up.

"_I've met someone,"_ she gasped. His hand stilled, hovering over her words.

"_Oh, God, I'm sorry. I never meant to hurt you…but I can't keep doing this. I – I feel like I'm living a lie. I want so much more – I want to be so much more. It's my dream Robert…it's been my dream for - for so long."_

There was a shuffling sound, like someone wiping tears away.

_I really want to do this…see where my talent and skills take me. _

Robert's hand lay on the receiver, his fingers curling around the handle, but not lifting.

"_I'm sorry. But I couldn't stay here any longer. Please tell Sarah…tell her I'm sorry."_

At the mention of Sarah's name Robert felt something crumble inside, a pain so tangible he pulled his hand away from the phone to actually touch his chest and see if anything was wrong. Nothing. Nothing more substantial than a maddened heartbeat, so loud and erratic Robert could barely register Linda's voice, telling him she was going to become an actress and that Mark, the other man in her life, was going to help her.

He thought about Sarah, how distraught she was going to be when she got back from her friend's slumber party. How could he tell her he failed? That her mother left because he wasn't exciting enough, that the life he chose wasn't enough to keep his family together? His arm, heavy as lead, finally fell from the phone to join his numb body as he slumped to his side. Linda's words made a harsh impression in his mind as her voice lilted in a sickening plea for understanding before the recording clicked off.

"_Please try to understand…this is something I have to do."_

And now his daughter had said the very same thing.

Sarah blinked her red rimmed eyes back to the present.

And now, standing before him, Sarah felt humbled by his silent helpless rage. No matter how hard he tried, he somehow could not keep his family together. And unlike Linda's desire for the stage, for fame, this was his dream: a family, people who he could count on to stay, to love him, to never hurt him. He had thought Sarah different from her mother; and now Sarah could see he saw them too similar at this moment. When she told them about the Labyrinth all he had heard was the name of a man who had seduced her away, someone she was going to leave them for; a man who had promised a more exciting life than he could provide, in essence, another "Mark."

She was confused when he advanced another step and continued his tirade, as if no time had passed since he cried out, "I thought I could trust you." She didn't know that she had experienced his memory, feeling as if a half hour had lapsed, when in actuality only mere seconds had passed her by. Still disorientated, she stepped back. Her father, subconsciously acknowledging this movement as an admission of guilt, pressed on.

"Did you sleep with him?"

"Robert!" Karen yelled. He ignored her indignation.

Sarah shook her head – what? Did he actually ask what she thought she heard? She placed her hand on the table to help steady herself, she felt like she was being bombarded by too many things. She could still hear the phone clicking, starting the message, the feeling of her father's despair, the flowers falling from his slackened grasp…

"…and now you're leaving!"

She had missed something. He was so angry. His tall frame towered over her and for one sickening moment she wondered if he was going to hit her.

"Dad, stop," she gasped.

"No you stop!" he cried, his finger pointing in her face ridiculously, he was nearly overwhelmed, adamantly refusing to let his emotions well up behind his aching eyes, "why can't you see how hard we're trying? Can't you see how much we love you? How much I love you?" And then his voice broke. His right hand, which Sarah rarely did not see holding a newspaper or the handle of his briefcase, came up to savagely push against his eyes.

Both Karen and Sarah awkwardly approached him. He was breathing hard and seemed to calm further when Karen stepped behind him and wrapped her arms around his chest. Understanding on an instinctual level, Karen begged Sarah with her eyes, to not leave them like this. "Dad," Sarah whispered, "I am not Linda."

There was a heavy moment and Sarah wondered if he heard her.

His hand came down, and his watery gaze did not waver as his voice came out, barely more than a hoarse whisper, "Prove it. Prove it by staying."

Sarah closed her eyes and sighed.

"I can do better than that." Robert wondered if his eyes were playing tricks with him because Sarah made a casual gesture with her hand and a crystal appeared, perched on her fingertips. Karen also felt confused and was about to ask Sarah what was going on but before she could Sarah's voice came out, more confident and gentle than a few minutes ago.

"Hoggle, Sir Didymous, Ludo… I need you right now."

x—X—x

Karen shrieked.

Sarah's father blinked, stepped back, and startled, tried to shield his wife from the strange beings on the other side of the kitchen table. Hoggle and Sir Didymous, not knowing what was happening, or who the two strange humans in front of them were, stood still, their hands clutching the handles of their blades, ready to draw it out of their belts at the slightest movement. Ludo was more confused and panicky. Looking round with an unhappy face, he suddenly saw Sarah and turned to her for comfort and guidance.

"Don't you dare touch her!" Robert cried, grabbing the first thing he saw off the counter and made to hit the huge shaggy monster nearing his daughter.

"Stop!" Sarah cried but Sir Didymous was only too eager for battle and sprang out growling between Robert and the confused Ludo.

"Ha-ha! Be prepared to battle not just one but we three, a united front!" He swerved to the right and then to the left lashing his rapier at the wooden rolling pin Robert held. Her father looked incredulous. Did a dog just joust with him?

Sarah quickly knelt down and grabbed Sir Didymous, "Stop! They're my parents!"

There was a clatter and Sir Didymous bowed low, his hat in one hand. His rapier resided on the floor, forgotten. "I beg pardon," he whispered awed, "If I had known thou were the noble lineage of the lady Sarah, never would I dare draw arms in thy presence." His whiskers twitched in mortification, as he looked up, his hat now over his heart, "verily…" he said, his eyes serious and sincere, "I apologize and pledge my allegiance to thee and thy noble wife."

The rolling pin also fell creating a loud thud. Robert shook his head before looking at Sarah. Nothing was making sense anymore.

"Sarah, what the -"

"They're my friends," she said quickly, "this," she said straightening up and then pointing to each individual, "is Sir Didymous, Hoggle, and Ludo."

Karen stepped away from Robert, her eyes wide and her brows slightly furrowed. "They're…real," she said, her voice no louder than a hush, "my god…then, everything you told us…"

"Yes," replied Sarah. "Everything I told you happened. The Labyrinth existed."

Robert seemed to sag against the sink and wooden cabinets, "I…I thought…" He swallowed hard, ashamed he had thought Sarah so incapable of caring, accusing her of such thoughtless cruelty.

"I know," said Sarah looking steadily at him, trying to impart through her intonation her love and forgiveness, "And I'm sorry you thought that, I didn't mean to make this so hard on you, on both of you."

She motioned for them to sit down and they did so cautiously. Ludo sat down next to the refrigerator, understanding that no chair would have supported his weight. Sarah and Hoggle (with just a little boost from Sir Didymous) sat on the other two chairs on the opposite side of the table; Sir Didymous sat cross-legged on the table itself, on Sarah's left side.

Reverently, Sarah placed the crystalline orb in the center, her hands hovering near, as if ready to cradle it. That awful sense of surreal smothered Robert again, but this time he held it in check. His worried eyes flitted from Sarah to the strange, yet now somehow no longer vicious looking, creatures at her side, then back to her. Karen watched Sarah lower her gaze, saw her touch the top of the crystal with the tip of her finger.

"To help me…a land was created, a wondrous beautiful land…" The glass clear shine of the orb turned opaque. Slowly it drifted into clarity, as if clouds were breaking, revealing within its depths a bird's eye view of a dry land and a grim foreboding castle in its center, flagged by underbrush and tall trees.

Sarah's voice sounded dry, pained, and she had to cough to get the roughness out, "This is their home. It is a home to many." A fresh surge of remorse hit her but she bit back her reaction and before anyone could notice, she slowly passed her hand, palm down, over the orb. "Because a lesson had to be learned, for Toby's sake and my own, I ran the labyrinth…I - I succeeded, and the cost…"

Sarah closed her eyes against the image of Jareth falling, his white robes billowing as he fell through the darkness.

Her hand passed over the orb again and Karen watched in morbid fascination and some confusion, as the castle fell to ruins, the land shaking as the land surrounding it seemed to cave in within itself. Within seconds the sky over the castle darkened, punctuated now and then by lightning. The land broke and drifted in pieces, separated by what seemed like great bodies of water, but really was pools of black. All too quickly the orb was black as pitch and no matter how hard either Robert or Karen peered they could see nothing else.

Sarah was silent and still for a moment and then with great effort said, "Jareth saved as many as he could."

Karen felt her lungs burning and realized she had been holding her breath. Tears welled up and the slid down Sarah's face when, in a shaky voice she said, "Jareth is there. I love him. I love the Labyrinth." Robert clenched his fists tightly, his heart still beating hard and fast from this crazy morning. What was she asking? Surely, she wasn't thinking…

"I'm giving you a choice," she said, before her parents could protest. "It will seem unfair of me, cruel even to ask this, but I believe like he did, that choices must be given. It can not be any other way, if we are to be honest with ourselves."

"Sarah, what are you talking about?" Karen gripped Robert's hand under the table. She was only mildly reassured when Robert squeezed it back in mutual sympathy.

Sarah pulled her hands away from the crystal, and the gloom within it receded until it became nothing more than a crystal again.

"What I am asking of you…will be difficult. Jareth must be found. The Labyrinth must be rebuilt. I am going into the void and… I - I am asking you to create the façade that I have run away."

"This is ridiculous," Robert said under his breath but Sarah continued none the less.

"There will be police, they will interrupt your home life, and…people will talk."

Karen stared with wide eyes, was this real? Was Sarah serious? Was she actually leaving? "You- you said, there was a choice," came her meek voice.

Sarah nodded, "Ever since the labyrinth…It seems that I was given certain powers. I…To make it easier on you, on both of you, I can create it so that it would be like I was never here."

Robert's brow furrowed and his mouth set into a hard line, "I don't understand."

"I can change this," and Sarah waved her hand around the kitchen, trying to think of the appropriate word. _Universe? The aboveworld? Parallel? Side?_ For lack of better word she just said what seemed easiest to understand, "life," she said, "so that for you and everyone who ever knew me would live as if I were never born."

Hoggle crooked one eyebrow up in suspicious curiosity at Sarah but otherwise said nothing.

Karen looked stricken and appalled. Robert was just speechless.

"It may sound weird to you right now, but it would mean peace for you, Karen and Toby. There would be no police to bother you, you two would never have to worry about me, because you would never have known me. You could raise Toby in the kind of carefree, happy home you have both desperately wanted for so long." Sarah sighed, "Touch the crystal and it will be done."

Sarah looked down in silent misery. It was the right thing to do, offering this alternative. She never wanted to hurt them but she had to show them that she was not backing out of this; she had to rebuild the Labyrinth! But she also needed, perhaps just as much as her parents, to show them that she loved them. She truly did want what was best for them. And giving them the power to choose, seemed like the only option to show them how much she cared.

She started when she felt a hand on her shoulder. "You must think us stupid," her father's voice said steeped in emotion, "if you think for one moment we would choose a life without you." The moment was brittle but Sarah stood up, silently crying inside: _Thank you, thank you…_

He hugged her, and said in a small voice uncharacteristic of him, "is there no other way? Can't you stay here?"

Sarah squeezed her eyes shut against hurting her dad further but said into his shoulder, "If I do, everything I love and believe in dies."

"How…how will we know you're all right?" It was Karen who had asked the question.

"You will know. I will send word somehow. I promise."

Her father backed away and looked at the serious faces of Sarah's friends.

"You…you will protect her?" Ludo nodded vigourously, reminding Robert of a large child, but he saw the little dog creature in the blue hat bow courteously to him and saw the one called Hoggle step up next to Sarah. Hoggle looked him in the eye and said, "I would die for her." And somehow, he believed him.

Karen slightly smiled at their earnestness but became serious again when she asked in an uneasy voice, "Sarah…when?"

Steeling herself she replied without blinking, "Tonight. The magic is stronger at nightfall."


	14. In Darkness

Faith Enduring

Disclaimer: I do not own the Labyrinth or its characters; they are property of Jim Henson, Lucas Films, and Dennis Lee. This fanfiction is not made for profit in anyway; it is only further proof of my love for the movie and that I have an overactive imagination.

Chapter Fourteen

The gentle roar of rain soothed him, in a way alcohol could not, as he sat on the very edge of the bed.

Outside, the tree's leafy boughs swayed, shifting the pathetic gray light into fragmented spots before Robert's bare feet. His eyes wandered over the room, noting the shadows with dismal indifference, as he once again felt the sickening lukewarm tilt of liquor touch his lips.

It was dark, much too dark for that time of day, and Robert absently acknowledged that it was due to the rainstorm brewing beyond this room…beyond that window…keeping everything, all the bedroom's furnishings a hazy charcoal gray.

Beside the parted window panes gauzy white curtains lifted and billowed into the room as the sky released another wet and shaky exhalation.

God he felt tired.

He fingered the tumbler of scotch in his right hand and took another small burning sip.

A wedding gift from Karen's father, he recalled in retrospect, a three year old gift he had never opened until now. His left hand covered his painfully dry eyes as he pretended the room was even darker, so dark that he could not see in his mind Sarah's fearful eyes. Did she think he was going to hit her? Doesn't she understand how much he loves her?

Another breeze blew inward and Robert heard the staccato slant of cold rain slap the wood flooring.

Confusion and pain filled him and he hoped to stop it, to just have a moment to breathe by focusing on that tiny glow of heat left in his throat.

Sarah. His daughter. His little girl. Leaving. Not for college… not for marriage, but leaving this world…

"_Is there no other way Sarah? Can't you stay here?" Sarah's eyes closed, shutting away the look of pain as she whispered…_

"_If I do, everything I love and believe in dies."_

A dark foreboding pain twisted in his gut, not that which is left from strong alcohol but a horrible belief that Sarah would never return. Dear god how could she ask this of him? What if it was wrong to allow her this…what if she was hurt and he would never know – What if…

_Dad, I have to find him. I must return to the Labyrinth, please try to understand…_

His hand shook.

He heard movement and then felt a familiar weight sit beside him on the bed. Felt soft, gentle fingers take away his scotch before lightly laying on his shoulder.

A moment passed and Robert waited for quietly uttered accusations to stab him. But Karen said nothing.

"Say it," he reluctantly whispered when the silence grew too large and encompassing. He looked up to stare into her dark blue eyes, and saw that she too in the dark room looked ashen and tired.

"Say it," he whispered, broken, "say how I am hiding, running away, just like I did when Linda left me. Tell me what a useless coward I am."

He tiredly moved his body away from her hand though he did not stand, just sat further along the bed, "But it hurts," he sighed, "Karen… It hurts and I can't stop it - I can't stop her. I want to help her and I can not. I want to keep her here and I must not."

Karen looked at her hands clasped together on her lap, feeling the distance Robert placed between them. "You are not alone," she began to say, afraid that her words would be misinterpreted and therefore not convey what she felt.

She touched the soft blue and white patterned space of comforter between them, remembering the first time she brought it to this house, unfolded and lifted it in the air, saw it settle onto the frame, something for them, something they would from then on share.

It was not easy, she remembered, falling in love.

"When we married," she said quietly, feeling her voice slightly out of place in the dark room, "and I moved into our home here, I was so afraid of what I said or how I acted towards Sarah, wondering if I had any right to tell her what she could or could not do. Especially when she became angry; I could see it the way she looked at me that she thought I was an intruder. I could not help questioning each action, 'am I doing this correctly? Is this right for Sarah? Do I have the right to punish – to help – to love her?'"

Robert looked at her with a pained expression and she took hold of his hands again.

"I'm saying I understand your pain. You are torn, just as I was, with the fear that this decision may be wrong, but," and it seemed here that she was rallying herself, anticipating his denial, "we have to have faith in ourselves, in our intentions, and ultimately in Sarah."

"You don't understand," he gasped, trying to pull away again. The pain was real, it was his, and it was something no one else should feel.

"I do my dear, I do," and Karen leaned over and pressed her forehead to his, her hand lifting up to touch his face. She wanted her touch to say what she could not adequately express earlier. _I am a part of this family. I love you and Sarah. Do not shut me out._

She needed him, she had always needed him, and it was a constant she never questioned. But she never understood, until this moment, the power of that love; that ultimately he would need her just as much. That he of all people could feel lost. She tried to grasp the words she wanted, no needed, him to understand and hoped that even in the dark it would somehow guide them both.

The moment pained her, as she realized with a burning poignancy their individual frailty. She held him tightly and pressed her face into his shirt, feeling that his being there was enough to reassure her…give her strength. Her eyes clenched tightly as with her next breath she whispered an exhalation, a promise.

"You are not a coward."

Robert's back stiffened and Karen held him tight. She felt his resistance and rushed to explain, to calm his inherent reluctance to see things for what they were.

"Do you remember when we first started seeing each other?" and here Karen's voice took on a breathy broken edge, as if the emotions were almost too much and she did not want him to hear it. She closed her eyes and remembered all the little things meant for her and her alone throughout their marriage…the little post it notes he left, saying he loved her, the way he touched her cheek before he left for work, a soft caress like a promise…

Robert couldn't breathe, could barely think, it was as if his mind had shut down and all he could register were emotions. So he remained silent and listened to Karen's voice, waited for that clawing feeling to crest and ebb, felt what she was saying as she held him, rooted him as the wind outside howled.

"My brother…and my parents told me that it was foolish to get into a relationship with a divorced man…especially one with a twelve year old daughter. But I felt that it was not their place to say or tell me how I should feel. Of course it wasn't easy, of course things with Sarah didn't go as I had planned!"

_She treats me like a wicked stepmother in a fairytale no matter what I do!_

God. How long ago had she said that? It felt like a different time – a different life.

"But look at me – I have you! I have Sarah – and Toby! I was in love. I still am. And I believe in that love."

Her words all came out in a rush, as if they contained energy she could no longer restrain. Suddenly she was trembling and it broke the spell of apathy that had gripped Robert so solidly minutes ago, so much so that he found his arm around her, his other hand turning her face to rest on his shoulder.

"That is what she is doing," she whispered as she gripped the collar of his shirt with one hand, "I saw it in her eyes… she sees something we can not…. Something she loves."

"Don't, please, don't," he said through clenched teeth, holding her too tightly, begging when he knew he had no right. He did not want to hear it.

"Dear…"

And she did not say more, she was not able to. He felt Karen's strength and feelings of helplessness caged between them, in the way her hands were tightly clenched against his chest.

They held each other as the wind rushed outside in agonized circles.

And amidst the sound of branches scraping outside the bedroom walls, he heard in his mind the echo of Sarah's laughter as a young child running in the park; heard her scream with a ten year olds delight before blowing out her birthday candles… saw and heard so much before last picturing the fierce love burning in her eyes immediately after telling them about the labyrinth…

"I know," he crooned as he felt the damp of Karen's tears through his shirt, "I know."

x - X - x

Sarah started from the couch when she heard something crash.

"What are you doing?"

"Ah, awake I see," said Nigel as he looked up over a small glittering pile of what looked like white powder on the hardwood living room floor.

"Yeah, I guess." Sarah sat up on the long couch and moved her feet carefully so as not to disturb Hoggle and Sir Didymous. The little red and yellow crocheted blanket fell off her and puddled at her feet. "I didn't even realize I had fallen asleep."

Nigel looked at her thoughtfully before methodically pulling a small cloth out of his pocket. He fished out a match and lit a white candle that was next to his feet and proceeded to melt wax onto the pile of white powder.

"Magic fatigue," he murmured nonchalantly.

"What?" Sarah sat up straighter, more alert now. At the moment Hoggle snored, comically blowing the feather on Sir Didymous' blue hat forward in a little wave. She looked at them and smiled sympathetically. They were both exhausted. She wondered where Ludo was.

When Nigel was done with whatever he was doing he looked up at Sarah and smiled.

"You have not slept in over 24 hours and you have been traveling between two worlds with your mind." He then chuckled as he turned to slowly sit in a large overstuffed chair.

"As if that were not enough," he continued, now drawing a pipe out from his pocket, "you have been off and on using magic here in this realm." He lit another match but this time placed it at the end of his pipe, allowing the tobacco to light, before drawing in a few unhurried puffs.

"That type of indulgence will inevitably lead to a siphoning of power, which needs to be replenished in some form or another, and your body has decided that a few hours of rest would be quite beneficial." Nigel relaxed under lazy rings of opal colored smoke and considered that for a world without the creature comforts of magic, at least judging by the soft brown leather recliner he was currently in, that this world was really not so backwards as he had first supposed.

It was like his initial assessment of Sarah here. He had thought her a typical human youngling, besotted with fantasy and the ever headstrong Jareth. She was he had thought, just another assignment well done for the good of everyone concerned. He did not expect Jareth to reciprocate her admiration, at least not to the point of turning their world and everything that they knew inside out before then walking away.

He watched Sarah gently hold the amulet around her throat, rubbing her thumb over it in a self assuring manner, as if it were rosary beads. Was she even conscious of what she was doing? Did she really not feel the thin aura of power radiating from her even now, when all she was doing was just sitting there, thinking of the labyrinth?

No, she was not what he had expected. Even Jareth did not understand the fine nuances that he, Nigellen Corenous Octavian, could see panning out at this very moment. Nigel shook his head at Jareth.

_Young ones in love... so concerned for the other's sake that they impetuously leap before looking. Ah, but then again, I can not really blame him. Even I did not first see. You were right my friend, she is not 'just an ordinary girl' – you just did not assess the extent that particular sentence entails._

Sarah looked toward the large grandfather clock and noted that it was now early evening. She wondered where her parents were and how they were doing. But then her attention was drawn back to the strange pile of wax and powder left on the living room floor.

"Uh…are you going to just leave that there?" Sarah could just imagine that with everything going on, a hard to clean mess would just about cause Karen to crack. And truth be told, she knew she was making things hard enough on them already. Magical friends or not, they had to have _some_ consideration.

Nigel looked as if he didn't understand what she was asking about then lifted his hand saying, "oh yes, quite right."

He flicked his wrist and murmured something Sarah could not make out. She wondered if he was even speaking the same language at that point. Suddenly the glittery mess rose off the floor with a small huff of air circling round it as it lifted. The wax began to mesh with the powder in midair before, with a slight flourish, Nigel flicked both of his hands. He then brought his hands together as if her were holding a small invisible rod. The wax coalesced in the air into a tight bundle as if it were being held and manipulated. Pulling his hands slowly apart the wax stretched out into a perfect little cylinder.

Sarah was transfixed by the easy use of magic shown, as if it were nothing to him at all.

"Go ahead, take it."

"What -" she asked startled, but stood up and picked it out of the air like fruit from a tree. She turned it over with her fingers and looked up with a puzzled expression. "It looks like a thick piece of chalk."

Nigel nodded sagely and puffed on his pipe a bit before answering. "It will help you create the doorway."

"What? How did you make this?"

She watched Nigel move and settle himself even further into the chair, as if it were the greatest novelty. A little smile seemed to curl under his long wispy mustache.

"Hmm. Not granite, not marble…" he murmured like a happy sigh. He then focused on what Sarah was saying and became a bit more serious.

"The crystal you used earlier this morning was vacant so I decided it would make the perfect conduit."

Sarah's mind boggled at the thought. It seemed so, well in a way wrong, to destroy even one of these crystals. They were magical, they were beautiful and perfect and…

_They were a gift._

Sarah sighed. She was being silly. If that was what it took to help save the labyrinth and Jareth, it was certainly a small price that could be overlooked. After all it was a crystal…not something alive.

She had worried over that. Was it safe to bring her friends with her? She did not really know what to expect now that the Labyrinth didn't really exist anymore in the void, and she didn't want anyone to get lost or hurt. How much was she risking besides her own safety?

Even as she asked Nigel what he meant as a conduit, she looked over at Hoggle and Sir Didymous snoring on the couch. Even in sleep, their hands rested on the hilts of their respective daggers, as if at the slightest disturbance they would leap to Sarah's rescue. The thought pained her and she worried even more.

_It is there home though…They have as much right, maybe even more than I, to risk their lives for what they love. I know this, but if that moment comes can I accept it? _

Her throat tightened. This was no game, no silly daydream anymore. The dangers were truly untold. This had never been attempted before.

_Oh Hoggle…Sir Didymous… dear Ludo…it's selfish of me to think it…but I wish I could keep you safe forever in a crystal._

Nigel's voice brought her back to their earlier conversation, and Sarah had to wipe the moisture from her eyes.

"We will need to create a pathway to return to the void. The crystals were created by Jareth in the Labyrinth and they have a memory so to say of the world they were created from. Your mind can travel between worlds but we need a way to move our bodies there, thus, the essence of the crystals will be drawn here in the shape of a door, acting as a medium, connecting both realms."

Sarah looked at the chalk like piece in her hand with a look of wonder. It seemed so small and insignificant.

"Once we are through, however, the pathway will continue to exist unless someone erases the etchings. We wouldn't want that liability to exist, where someone from this world could accidentally fall into the void."

Before Sarah could address the issue she heard her father's serious voice say from the top of the stairway.

"We will erase it." Sarah looked up and saw her dad walk down the staircase, his features grave and tight with worry, but in a way controlled. Karen walked behind him and once they reached the bottom of the stairs, she quickly turned into the kitchen.

Robert hugged Sarah long and hard; all the while asking in a hushed voice, "Are you sure? Are you sure?"

Sarah nodded through her tears.

Robert's voice was a tense whisper, "How much time do we have?"

"We have a few minutes to spare," said Nigel courteously, understanding the importance of farewells. Sarah called out to Hoggle and Sir Didymous and they woke up, rubbing their hands over their faces in an attempt to quickly rouse them. Ludo came in from the kitchen yawning (he had slept with his back to the side of the refrigerator all this time), followed by Karen with a large knapsack. She walked up to Sarah hesitantly.

"It's…it's just a few sandwiches I made earlier. I – I didn't know what was out there for…for all of you."

Sarah took it with a small smile. "Thank you." Sarah then pulled Karen in for a long hug too and it was so uncharacteristic of their relationship before coming to understand one another that Karen acted as if she didn't know what to do with her arms. But then suddenly she was holding Sarah too, tears sliding down her face. "Thank you," Sarah said again and it held a current of deeper meaning; all the fights in the past, all the arguments, were now no longer past obstacles…they were testaments.

Sarah hefted the bag of food over her shoulder and gave the bag of remaining crystals to Hoggle. Ludo, under Nigel's instructions, moved the couch, freeing a large section of wall before them.

"Use the conduit Sarah," said Nigel.

Sarah stepped forward and with the "chalk" drew a large door, one that Ludo could easily walk through. It made an ordinary rasping sound as she drew its dull point over the beige paint, as if it really were nothing more than a piece of chalk.

Sarah stepped back and waited expectantly. Nothing happened.

"Did I do something wrong?" she asked. Deek made an irritated noise in his throat before suddenly shouting, "Just touch the damn thing already!"

Sarah looked puzzled but stepped forward and pressed the surface with her fingertips, and that large square of wall slowly swung in as if it were on invisible hinges. As it moved, all those around peered into a darkness so deep it were as if they were on the very edge of the universe. Karen was so startled by the vastness she stepped back. It wasn't just dark – it was absolute absence of all light.

Sir Didymous clicked on the flashlight he had taken earlier form Sarah's room. The sound startled everyone, snapping their attention from the ominous silence pervading the William's home from the other side of that door. He also had a small bag slung over his back and in it were every flashlight in the house, along with a number of metal packages termed as he recalled, "batteries."

"Take out the orb with the forest Sarah, we will need it to be cast out there or else we shall have no foothold." Sarah nodded and with the help of Hoggle found that particular crystal. The enormity of it all was seeping in and Sarah had to reach further in herself for calm.

_This is it Sarah. No turning back now._

She stepped forward and walked through; past the little wood and glass coffee table tilted in an angle, past the blue couch shoved to the adjacent wall, past her parent's tearing faces, and vanished.

Nigel for once, walked briskly and disappeared after Sarah. Ludo followed, then Hoggle. Sir Didymous made a little cross over his heart, took out and raised his rapier high over his head solemnly before shouting, "For God and country!"

And they were gone.

x - X - x

They were falling! She could feel the air rushing past her face though they could not see anything, not even the hands before their very faces.

They broke through water, it engulfed them and they panicked, struggling to reach for the surface. But which way was the top? Suddenly she saw the small but visible line of light beaming from Sir Didymous's flashlight, breaking through the dark, illuminating at least the direction they should kick towards.

They all gasped for air, and somewhere Sarah could hear Deek cursing like a sailor.

Ludo was howling futilely, calling for rocks in absolute terror, forgetting that they were now in a world where no rocks existed.

"Sarah! Release the forest!" Sarah panicked but then realized she did not drop the orb as she had feared; it was gripped viselike by her hand. Shaking in both fear and relief, she brought it to her mouth and teeth chattering from excess adrenaline blew it out to float past her hand. It grew out slowly in the air, being suspended by Sarah's will.

She raised her arms and was shaking with the concentration and Nigel shouted out for her, "Everyone, swim back! Ludo stop howling! Sir Didymous, shine the light upward so we know which direction it is extending!"

It grew slowly outward like a giant spaceship, and Sarah's friends were silent in awe. There was no other sound, except for the slap of water hitting them and a sound like metal groaning, as the land expanded. Sir Didymous raised the angle of the flashlight and his eyes grew large to see the gnarled tangle of roots growing over head, saw even the dark underbelly of the land to have more depth and color than the all encompassing ink behind it and all around them.

"Get back!" roared Nigel and Hoggle gripped the collar of Sir Didymous to pull him even further back as large clumps were dropping and splashing the water loudly. Nigel grabbed the flashlight from Sir Didymous and shined it toward Sarah, who he could now see was violently shaking.

"Sarah! We are out of the way! Let it down!"

She cried out and it fell, creating a thunderous splash that whipped everyone back in rocking waves; but the land did not sink. The forest was now an island.

"You did it!" crowed Hoggle triumphantly! He watched the beam of light rove over the land, the only light they had, and watched as it arced toward Sarah.

"What – Sarah!"

Hoggle grabbed the flashlight out of Sir Didymous's hand and dove under the inky depths. Sarah in her exhaustion had lost consciousness and sank beneath the surface.


	15. What Lies In Memories?

Faith Enduring

A/N:  I really have no excuse for the abysmal delay or for my horrible lack of care concerning kind reader's reviews. I truly believed I had abandoned all my stories as I felt depressed by my job and my inability to write. Believe it or not I actually had attempted a few times in the past (this was ages ago) to construct and write chapter 15 and I was so disgusted with how wrong everything felt and how different I seemed to type that I just stopped. You see I am an emotional writer, a lot of times I sort of plan the story out in my head but most of the time I write off the cuff. I just let the words type out. Even now this chapter feels a tad off, I feel like I have to find my style again. I'm not going to make any promises of how quickly the next chapter will be, this was all written over the weekend, and I'm just so tired for some reason. I understand this all sounds lame, complaints will not only be acceptable but completely understood. Thank you for your time and consideration. PS I can just bet this chapter was not going where everyone thought it was going, pray that I'll get my act together soon and do better for chapter 16. Again thank you and have a great day.

This as well as most of my other grammatically challenged chapters was unbetaed.

Spitfire21 – I have been especially unkind to you. I am very sorry and I still owe you that email. You truly do deserve better.

Faith Enduring

Disclaimer: I do not own the Labyrinth or its characters; they are property of Jim Henson, Lucas Films, and Dennis Lee. This fanfiction is not made for profit in anyway; it is only further proof of my love for the movie and that I have an overactive imagination.

Chapter Fifteen

Hoggle swam downward, the light from the flashlight slicing awkwardly through the blackness, as he tried in vain to reach Sarah.

Where was she? He couldn't see her.

He tried to keep one arm forward to hold the light but then believing she fell faster than he, resorted to swimming with both arms just to try to keep up with her momentum. His lungs burned and he couldn't hold his breath much longer.

No he couldn't go back; if he went up for air there was no way he would be able to find her! Lungs screaming he pushed harder throwing his arms desperately to pull his dwarf body downward.

Suddenly a faint glow up ahead caused his eyes to widen in surprise and kick his short legs harder.

Sarah's hair floated out in wild black tendrils as her body twisted as if in pain. Her hand raked at her throat weakly, the nails catching and slipping on the golden chain as the amulet pulsed a dull light blue.

His arm reached out, fingers just barely reaching her, palm grasping her shoulder to pull upward when everything burst into confusion and utter chaos.

x - X – x

Sir Didymous threw his rapier onto the dark murky soil and hoisted his body out of the black ink with a grunt. Breathing hard, he shook the heaviness out of his fur, feeling the thick drops fly, before quickly turning around to help guide his brother onto the island.

It was too dark for him to see clearly but he still possessed a keen nose and a sharp ear and could sense where the old man and his large brother climbed.

"This way brother, steady, steady," he said, directing the large monster, speaking in a gentle unhurried voice like one coaxing a frightened steed. Ludo was indeed afraid. He took small hesitant steps holding onto Sir Didymous's small gloved hand as if afraid he would disappear in the darkness like Sarah and Hoggle. Ludo panicked when the tiny hand left his but then after a snap and a shuffle, a loud click revealed his dear friend's small whiskery face in a V shaped beam of light.

They both turned and the spot of light showed Nigel slowly standing up. His dark brown clothes were one slick heavy garment plastered to his body. Deek had his eyes closed and leaned forward, slumping toward the rim of Nigel's hat as if sick or exhausted. With only a nod from Nigel Sir Didymous rummaged through the small backpack now at his feet and pulled out the other remaining flashlight.

Silently he tossed it to the old man who clicked it on. In a daze, Ludo watched the beams of light flicker over the ground, revealing within the dark, snatches of soil, rocks and spider webs. And when they brought the twin beams of lights higher they could see trees, twisting vines and snippets of forest green moss.

Sir Didymous pushed them forward, not far from the edge of the island but enough so that he felt confident no one would fall back into the void. "Camp," he said quickly and placed the felt bag down with the confidence and air of one planting a flag.

Nigel stroked his beard thoughtfully and Sir Didymous sensed in his silence a question.

"You disapprove Sir?'

Nigel slowly sat down on a large rock, sighing as he realized that he had lost his pipe in the fall.

"On the contrary young knight," he said, "I am in agreement. Though I am a tad surprised you did not hastily jump in like your friend Hoggle."

Sir Didymous straightened up proudly holding his chin high as he said, "Sir Hoggle has within him a great and noble nature."

Over Nigel's large eyebrows Deek snorted.

The gallant fox held his hands before him palm up as if within them were a weight of great importance, "There are many facets to this quest that need tending. Hoggle will not fail in his endeavors."

Ludo stepped behind the little knight and together, limned in pale light they looked otherworldly, almost formidable as he whispered, "and neither will we."

For a moment Nigel actually felt surprise. How was it possible that creatures such as these held such strong individual personalities? Were they not just components of Sarah's will and unique qualities?

Before he could ponder further there was a slight crack in the distance, as if a twig had been broken.

His hackles rising in defense, Sir Didymous took hold of the hilt of his sword and brandishing the flashlight so that the beam of light moved in a quick flourish, he shouted, "Unknown forces! Surrender your arms and come forth for you are surrounded!!"

In the faint outlines of the top of trees were tiny flashes of color; animal eyes that glowed, reflecting the light from their small party.

A flame burst within the branches of a nearby tree and Ludo flinched at the sudden crackle of fire. The fire stayed isolated, only lighting that one branch, enough to illuminate their party. Smoke and cinder tainted the air.

They were not alone.

Sir Didymous could not contain his grin and excitement. He released his hilt and stepped forward, awash in the orange glow, his arms open in salutation.

"Comrades – welcome!" he cried, "We have been expecting you."

x - X – x

He slowly blinked against the harsh light and took a hesitant step forward. The light lessened immediately to that of a dusky hue, and with tearing eyes lifted, he admired a sky the color of burnt amber.

The air was warm. Dry ground crunched under his black boots as he moved forward, idly trailing his fingertips over the brittle rushes that grew wild along the path.

No thoughts accompanied his unhurried pace. He knew this land… and he did not. Muck and scum floated over the oily surface of a little pool, though he could not smell decay of any sort in the air. Only warmth could be felt.

The aura of where he stood, the stone wall he gingerly touched seemed to exude a sense of calm, warm affection, and happy nostalgia. This was a good land he thought to himself.

Under the arch of stone he felt a small connection, and stepping past the large wooden doors, took a moment to admire the long stretches of brick and stone.

A small current of tepid air brushed past him, and he could almost remember… almost feel the beat of someone's feet running down this abandoned passageway. Almost see the same air lift strands of black hair away from a face…

There is beauty here… and what was once… life.

He walked in a daze, his arm out and again the tips of gloved fingers trailing, barely touching, feeling small details imprinted in cool stone. He could not get enough of sensation, oh how he loved the feel of something solid under his feet and beneath his hands. Yet, he touched the walls and plants delicately, as if in reverence.

"Fear me…" he whispered uncertainly, and wondered if it was a secret, a key to all the questions this land seemed to hold.

Further he carefully traveled, admiring the long wall that continued without turns or interruption.

His fingers met air and he stopped curious to see wall when he felt none.

Turning he stood before an oddity. He stepped back and would have been amused if he could only remember how.

A tiny shriveled vine helped him, pointing out what his mind could not seem to comprehend beyond intuition, as it followed a crack and then abruptly vanished from view. Illusions to trick someone? But trick who?

It was at the exact moment the air changed and he looked up startled, jumping back as the square of what looked like wall crackled with energy. The sky darkened immediately with a vortex of heavy clouds swirling within it.

Awash in a glow of soft blue luminosity, he trembled in fear. He closed his eyes to a memory of pain, immense pain and feelings of hopelessness. When he looked up he was on his knees, his hands unclenching sand and dirt when he saw her, the one who brought up inside of him such feelings of awe and apprehension.

What was this place? This scene did not belong here he was sure of it.

And yet before him, framed within that space where stone and moss was assumed to continue the labyrinthine wall, was a view of blackness and blue light. It was like looking into a mirror, a magical portal to a scene that did not belong in this land or time.

She twisted her body, weightless, suspended in dark water as she was slowly dragged down. Eyes shut tight, her hair floating around her in majestic disarray; the young beauty's mouth was open in a silent scream. Her hands were futilely clawing at the blazing amulet as if it were burning her.

Horror dried his throat so that he could barely breathe.

A shaking glove lifted toward the image, "help…help her," he rasped.

He could feel the ground beneath him break; knew that this place he stood in, walked upon, would dissolve into nothingness just as the other lands had.

He dared not turn away from her; his arm was still lifted, as he watched with rising fear a new creature swim near and take hold of her shoulder.

"Help her," he whispered, now slowly falling away as the ground beneath him splintered under his weight. Reaching, he wished with all that he had within his body for something, something he could not touch.

The blue pulsed again, illuminating with such intensity that his irises contracted into mere points, registering for one second not blue but only a white intense radiance. He flailed, cracking through the soil as if he were on a plane of glass at its breaking point. His robe billowed around him as he fell, but instead of the expected hush an emergence of something else flowed in, and grew around him until it broke like a swelling wave.

Anger. Hate. Emptiness. Dread. Shame.

Feelings that fell around him like whispers in a cold dark room, feelings that were not his but still surrounded him in every sense of the word.

Why was this time different? It should have been a drifting feeling, should have felt like closing your eyes before slumber.

Falling. He was falling down a tunnel.

Hard lumps knocked into his shins and his arms; it slowed his descent and hurt him at the same time. His eyes never left the soft glow above him, his only light. The lumps were grasping, grabbing his limbs and clothing, and… and….

"Monster."

Wide eyed, he looked at a face formed by green hands.

"W-what?" he stuttered, feeling that this was another moment where his suspicions would be confirmed by not gut instinct but actual facts.

"Monster!" the hands again hissed.

A high pitched female voice spoke up behind him and he turned to see hands moving, forming a snarl, "Demon!"

"No… no," he started to throw his arms up, tried to crawl toward the only one who mattered.

A face formed before his eyes and it took on a look of fear and sounded like a small child, "Mommy! He's got me! It's the Goblin King! I'm afraid, where are you?"

"Goblin?" he cried as the hands grabbed him more fiercely, pulling him down as the walls they extended from seemed to draw even closer.

_I will be crushed!_

"Goblin King!"

"Monster!"

"Evil Spirit!"

"Demon!"

His feet broke through something hard, a circular iron gate of some sort, and he was cast again into darkness. Spider webs clung to his arms as he sailed down into dust and gloom as his head spun with voices of children chanting names and crying in fear.

A soft voice wafted through his distraught mind and it broke his heart.

_You're him aren't you? You're the Goblin King._

The words, a ghostly ethereal wisp of smoke in his mind, faded away and left him feeling cold and bereft. She had cowered before him in a white room filled with shadows, tiny sharp teethed bug eye minions in the corners jeered and taunted her. He could not recall more but it was enough, her fear stricken eyes said it all.

"Fear me," he whispered, finally understanding. He was cast where he belonged; away from light and goodness…away from the one called Sarah… he was a monster.

x - X – x

Hoggle could barely tell the difference between all the memories rushing through his frenzied mind and that of his real surroundings. What was real? What was his and what was Sarah's and what were Jareth's dreams and memories?"

They flashed chaotically, snippets of moments so intense and important to Jareth, of places he had been, people he had watched, children who hated him, despised him, wanting nothing more that to throw him down and win. They rushed past him, so numerous and so fast it was like being caught in a rush of water and falling headfirst down a waterfall.

"No - no!" he gasped, digging his fingers into Sarah's shoulder brutally, trying to keep his mind in this moment, this time.

He had long ago gasped under its onslaught. The cold blackness was no regular water; he and Sarah could breathe here as they struggled in its hold.

Memories flashed never ending, a second, a day, years; a long string of recollections laced with Jareth's triumph, sorrow, and pain. Sarah screamed, and within that long drawn out wail, Hoggle could feel his hand as if in a great distance, take hold of his dagger.

It found its way to her throat, slipped carefully under the chain and quickly thrust down.

The chain snapped and the abruptness of where they really were felt like a hard but welcome slap across his face.

He just stayed there, floating, the back of Sarah's head pressed into his stomach, as he watched with detached horror, the glow fall below them becoming smaller and smaller. He gripped Sarah's shoulders harder as he realized what he had done. Gulping, he pulled her slumped body upward, knowing that paramount he had to get her out of there.

_There was nothing else I could have done! It was the only way!_

Blindly he kicked upwards, not allowing his mind to wonder why Sarah was still unresponsive. What would happen once she realized he had lost their only chance of reaching Jareth and restoring his memories?

_She's strong! This is Sarah we're talking about! Sarah! _

It was cold and so dark. And belatedly he realized he had lost the flashlight also. Hoggle had never felt so alone and so much a failure.

_Damn! Damn it all! And damn me too! _

He had failed her again. Just like that time he gave her the peach, thinking he had no alternative other than to obey Jareth's commands. Once was not enough to teach him wasn't it? He had made a snap decision and it now cost Sarah everything! Couldn't he have thought it out? Couldn't he have stopped one moment and tried to save both Sarah and the amulet, rather than sacrifice one to save the other?

When they finally broke through the surface, it was a shout that escaped his throat, and not a sob, no never.

_Oh god, she'll never forgive me!_

They bobbed in the gentle movement of the icy water. Blind, alone, feeling smaller and more helpless than he's ever felt in his life, he clung to Sarah's solidarity.

Much time passed.

In the very back of his mind, though he would not allow himself to truly contemplate it, he wondered if lying within the cold darkness would be a type of living death.

He cried out again, shouting for Sir Didymous, for Ludo, for anyone to help Sarah. Each attempt felt futile as it echoed, rolling out over the thick water's surface as if the sound would never reach an end. He shivered, numb from the tope of his ears down to his toes, as he gently wiped off some of her hair that floated out and clung to his face.

_I'm sorry, I'm so sorry Sarah. I wanted to save you and all I did was lose your only chance of reaching him. And now we're lost and you'll be stuck out here, forever, and I'm so stupid, so small, and useless. _

If only he had somehow kept the flashlight. If only he was stronger and was able to have pulled her up to the surface without losing the amulet. If only Sir Didymous were there because Sir Didymous always had a course of action, always had a brave smile, had true courage.

He kicked harder when he felt himself start to doze, threading water for what felt like hours.

_No! Stay awake or they'll never find us! Must…find… Sarah…_

Exhausted, just when he had given up and was about to sink under, there was a small yellow dot in the distance.

It grew and soon he could hear a fluttering sound.

He must have cried out again though everything had a surreal feel to it as he started to lose consciousness.

"Over here!" A weird high pitched voice cried, waking him a second more so that he could kick a few more times and keep Sarah afloat.

The light was larger now and it hovered above him. Out of the corner of his wrinkled eye he could now see Sarah's face, calm and unresponsive in slumber.

Two bodiless Firey's heads drifted over him, their ears furiously flapping to stay airborne. One firey had a torch in its mouth as the other shouted out, "We found them! Come here! They're over here!"

A beaky shaped mouth took hold of the back of his collar to keep his head above water until the other fireys could come and aid them.

So relieved, so absolutely ecstatic that they were not alone anymore, Hoggle allowed himself a small wry grimace and grumbled, "About time."


	16. The tempest

Faith Enduring

Disclaimer: I do not own the Labyrinth or its characters; they are property of Jim Henson, Lucas Films, and Dennis Lee. This fanfiction is not made for profit in anyway; it is only further proof of my love for the movie and that I have an overactive imagination.

This as well as most of my other grammatically challenged chapters was unbetaed. This chapter was done with a lot of little things picked on and reworked and cut out and reworded. I swear I worked harder on this chapter than most others, but in its own way, it kind of makes it more gratifying to post. I am hoping to wrap this fiction up in one or two more chapters so please wish me luck (as I have been mentally telling myself the same thing for the past four chapters). Today I was blissfully content and happy and because of that wrote like 4 pages straight in one sitting. Amazing what a good mood and a cold mountain dew can do. Cheers.

And thank you for still reading, I hope you still enjoy the story! :)

Chapter Sixteen

It was an awkward arrangement of Firey's jumping fearlessly into dark water. Wiry hands grasped the ends of disjointed arms, extending their reach, while a head would fly above flapping its ears furiously. Torches were held high in strong mouths and it cast a welcome glow over the exhausted face of Hoggle and the sleeping Sarah.

The effort was painstaking as the water was thick and unnaturally cold but the closer they brought the pair to the island the more hands could reach and help. And no one could deny the surge of joy, the happy thrill within their breast at the sight of Hoggle and Sarah brought near.

Hoggle could not stand. He nodded his thanks to the nearest Firey but could not be pushed further than the damp bank. The brightness of the island was both wonderful and overwhelming after hours (or at least what felt like hours) of darkness and Hoggle stared dizzily at the moist dirt beneath his hands. It felt so good to touch earth, he thought, before feeling the shame rise up again.

He turned to pull Sarah nearer but already she was being lifted out of water, being shuffled and arranged in the crook of a large shaggy arm. Disoriented, he would have protested that Ludo should only carry Sarah but his mind was slow, his mouth uncooperative as a large hand pulled him out of the water.

Ludo lumbered carefully, holding Sarah and Hoggle as best he could with slow but sure steps.

Mind swimming, Hoggle opened his eyes when he felt the monster slowly lean forward and place Sarah gently on the warm dry soil. Someone was helping Ludo, and the large fire crackling nearby glazed everything and everyone a painfully bright orange hue.

As Hoggle was laid upon the sparkling dirt he also felt the damp backpack maneuvered off his aching shoulders. He eased back with a sigh, letting the large warm gray stone support him. He had forgotten that he had carried the bag of crystals and winced inwardly at his recklessness.

So many lives that might have been lost.

His hand twitched, he could not even lift his arm to touch her arm, to prove truly that she was there and not another dream.

_I'm sorry_, he wanted to say but it was too hard, too tiring and difficult to push beyond the tight constriction of his throat, too hard to remember past the memory of cold everlasting water all around… And Sarah, knowing that she was safe was a relief beyond words. There was something else he had to recall, beyond the amulet, a warning to Sarah. It was there, a flit of a moment, back when they were caught in the tornado of memories, it was important, it was…

Hoggle's eyes closed.

The safety of being on the island, the warmth of the fire, being among friends he trusted, lulled him asleep before he even knew that he had succumbed to exhaustion.

x X x

Pride filled his heart to near bursting. Sir Didymous was proud and confident in his brothers and comrades. This grand adventure was much more difficult in that there was no single foe to vanquish yet everyone gave their all to see that the lady Sarah was protected and that everything within their powers were done to restore their land.

Hoggle had done what not many could have. Without thought of his own safety he dove into an ocean of nothingness darker than winter's night and brought Sarah back. They had been gone for so long, thought the brave fox. No time piece had they and the fire they had burning before them could not distinguish the hour as the wood never burned down. Time truly was insignificant here and equally immeasurable.

It was the only time Sir Didymous almost gave in to an emotion he rarely indulged in… fear. Not one for patience but action and a good sword fight, it was almost more than he could bear, standing by waiting for them to return or be returned. He knew to set torches around the island and send the firey's out, scouting the waters, though never further than their sight of the land and its flickering lights. He knew the things he had to do, it was not easy – waiting, but in the end he knew that Hoggle and Sarah would prevail.

"I commend you," whispered Sir Didymous to the sleeping Hoggle.

His whiskers twitched and he turned to Ludo, feeling slightly apprehensive as he gazed at the young lady he would lay his life down in order to protect.

"How fare's our lady, brother Ludo?"

Even before Ludo answered Sir Didymous knew something was not quite right. There were times in his life where the feelings he had just could not be defined or put into words but still meant something significant. It was a sixth sense that had saved him on more that one occasion as he fought in battle. Something that let him know when a stranger in the dark waited him, or allowed him to strike the exact moment someone rushed him on his blind side. But this….Taking in her cold pallor and calm breathing, Sir Didymous felt the hairs on the back of his neck raise.

He sniffed the air. No magic.

"Sarah…" gruffed the monster in a happy voice, breaking the strange path Sir Didymours thoughts had taken. "Sarah sleeping," he said happily, and the gentle giant lifted a large finger to his mouth and made a hushing motion.

The valiant fox smiled at his brother's simple gallantry but still felt disturbed. Even when the lady Sarah slept in the above world there was a hint of magic. Was his lady Sarah now more vulnerable then before? What did it all mean?

A pink long fingered hand tapped him before he could ponder further.

"Hey man…you better come on over with us," the firey said, "there is a strange cloud out there, and it's not giving me or the others a good vibe if you know what I mean."

Sir Didymous paused, but only briefly so. It would have to wait and Sir Ludo would watch over both Hoggle and Sarah.

Carefully he set the bag of crystals down near Hoggle's feet and walked briskly over curling roots and stones to the other end of the island. His fur bristled with some kind of static as they stepped along a haphazard path strewn with long stemmed self made torches.

He lifted the leaves of a very large fern away from his face and stared out toward the black sea. All five Firey's stood silent on that craggy shaped bit of land that sloped upward, away from their little camp of light. The forest plants and ferns covered them up to their shins and their faces were steeped in shadows but Sir Didymous could feel the tense conflicted air around them.

In the distance it was no bigger than Sir Didymous's thumb. Out there in the darkness a blue vapor seemed to rise and curl upward. Tiny white lines shot out in momentary bursts that they all recognized for lightning.

Firey's are by nature a carefree bunch filled with zeal and energy. But ever since their meeting in this set of circumstances they had proven to be serious, rational, and eager to set their world right.

They were now all even quieter, realizing some balance had been upset; some new impediment to a schedule already out of grasp had rapidly evolved. They stepped back as something new came forward.

A rush of air.

It forced water to hit the slope in an unexpected wave. In their whole time in this dimension there was never a breeze, and now not only did ripples exist in the black water but a cold charge of static electricity in the air brushed past them every few minutes. The scent of magic wafted in, but no light ethereal magic was this. It dragged in, a heavy scent to his sensitive nose, a slow cold uncoiling of something sickly and tainted.

"What manner of magic is this?" Sir Didymous whispered, awed.

The only answer he received was another tiny bolt of lightning and he was startled to see that the arc was just a bit bigger. No doubt about it, he realized, the storm was coming in the direction of their island.

x X x

Looking up into the starry sky, feeling the small snowflakes lift and sway, falling in unhurried randomness, she wondered where she was and what caused the sudden change of scenery.

She shivered but it had nothing to do with the soft delicate flakes falling or the gust of air swirling all around. Squinting, she could barely see past the trees and shrubbery but heard the sounds of water rushing by. On short shaky legs she moved, curious to solve this strange mystery. A branch of ice covered leaves cracked and shifted under her wrinkled hand revealing a clear view of a fast moving stream.

He was there.

Beneath the myriad of shadows his tall slender body hunched over in the icy water. The dark mantle he wore, which gave him such flair and authority when it billowed around him hung limply, the bottom half soaked up with ice water. He ignored the weight of the material and instead focused on what lay in his arms.

Ice frosted twigs and roots crunched under his boots, though no one could tell or care as the rush of water, loud and consistent, echoed off trees and filled the small dark spaces between the forest and Jareth's body.

His face was expressionless as he reverently placed the cold lifeless body next to a little girl.

And she, clad in dark brown clothes and a homemade shawl, lifted a shaky hand to touch her little brother's cold body and slowly pulled her hand back, too afraid to confirm that the small chest was not moving.

"It was a dare," she said quietly. The frost of her breath quickly faded before her flushed tearing face. "Just a game. I skipped across the rocks perfectly, he wasn't supposed to fall… it's….it's not my fault!"

Jareth did not say a word.

His thoughts flowed seamlessly, a strange resigned train of melancholy and irritation.

_Darrin. His name was Darrin. Five years old._

"Why isn't he moving?!?" she wailed, hiccupping, "Oh my god, what have I done? It's not my fault!" Her voice howled, stretching into a long hysterical note.

It should not have been this way, he thought. He had lived long enough to see villages suffer from plagues, children starve from drought and other natural disasters, from things he truly could not control.

A strong child, whom was well cared for… made the one error of confronting childish taunts, slipping into the stream, and weighed down by the water's rapid current a very stupid and ignoble death.

"This is YOUR fault!" she suddenly screamed startling Jareth as she lurched forward, small nails meant to rake across his eyes. His hands grasped hers, closing them into fists, before any damage could be done.

Her eyes blazed with an anger that surpassed logic and understanding as she hissed, "You took me away! I remember now! I defeated you! You did this out of revenge!!!"

The branches shifted under the weight of snow and a sudden patch of moonlight highlighted the pale young face. Beneath her angry tears he saw eyes of an intensely dark blue color and the vision flashed into place.

It was but a few years ago. The land of their final confrontation within her dream was bordered on the edges with trees and lay before a steep cliff. Her little brother's hand, a toddler back then, was tightly gripped by her own as she stepped forward. The torch she held had been waved, brandished before him as he flinched, supposedly afraid of her and her 'weapon.'

He took comfort in her aggressiveness and approved her fight to protect her little brother, and thus snarled at her to have her believe that truly she was conquering evil.

"Be gone!" she had cried.

Just one more step and he would fall over the cliff and disappear into the night, leaving behind a new beginning for Kara.

In her culture, male children were prized more heavily that females and she had grown to hate how her father doted on Darrin while sending her out to collect firewood or help her mother with more menial tasks.

But this was to be a new turn. While true she should be displeased at the unfairness of the treatment between herself and that shown for her brother by her father, she did not have to hate Darrin himself.

But what Jareth had failed to see was the strange light in Kara's eyes just as he began to tip backward, his arms flailing. A perverse delight in winning brightened the blue eyes until they were glinting, almost feverishly.

Kara garbled a strange scream of frustration as she tried to pull her hands out of his firm grasp, and it brought him back from the vision to reality.

"Kara," he calmly said, hiding the dismay and disappointment he felt so acutely, as she tugged her arms even harder, "I did not dare him to cross the river."

Her eyes widened and the fight visibly deflated from her small shuddering body. She truly looked wretched and Jareth lowered his voice to a sad whisper.

"You wanted to feel better about yourself and show him that you were stronger, faster… superior."

She shuddered and her head hung low so that her dark blond hair hid her face and shame. The little arms that were rigid with anger were now limp and Jareth released her hands.

He closed his eyes, tried to gentle the words that were to be her only comfort.

"He was afraid. You truly believed he would not cross."

"It's not my fault…" she whispered and paused, her voice catching, not looking at her brother, not looking at Jareth but at the cold moist snow scattered earth between her two hands.

There was a slight breeze and Jareth heard a man's worried voice cry out in the distance. He knew he had to leave soon.

"I'm sorry," Jareth said and made to stand. After all there was nothing else that could be done. Power he had, and magic, but it was not within his capabilities to give life to the dead or turn back time.

Her lips trembled, choking on breathy exhalations, mouth parting on a pause that could have been a plea or a prayer.

"It can't… be my fault."

Jareth stopped.

It was the "can't" that caught his attention. Within that small utterance hung a tiny note of despair, a pause before the leap into very dangerous territory, where insanity was not far away.

Standing, his tall frame towering over her small pathetic body, he thought to himself how thin and vulnerable she seemed. A gust of winter air pushed him toward her and he found himself kneeling.

_Too young. She is too young. _

He finally looked at her red blotchy face and felt himself come to a decision. He had to do it now - he could hear footsteps in the distance.

Long elegant fingers reached out and touched her tear chilled skin as he whispered soothing alien notes. Kara's eyes glazed over and did not see the pale movement of snowflakes in the night air circle around them, elevated by his magic, as his right hand trailed over her brow.

Eyes closed with concentration he continued the strange beautiful murmurings until his eyes opened and regarded her solemnly, as if coming upon what he was looking for.

She felt sleepy, her mind light and drowsy as he parted her lips and breathed in something that seemed to glow a bright blue behind her tired aching eyes.

The amulet pulsed, his jaw snapped and he grimaced as he placed his hand over its intricate surface, completing the strange ritual and moving away.

He stood up, swaying, just as another man walked into the clearing. Jareth's jaw quivered, trying to suppress the overwhelming grief and sorrow that suddenly assailed him.

All the man knew was that he had pushed through the frozen branches and briars and saw a man of height and fiercely wild features before him, much too close to Kara, sinking back into the shadows.

"Who the hell are you?!? What have you done???"

Jareth faded away into the shadows before the large man could hit him and took refuge in the chill air, again a beast of the dark. His chest ached as he heard the man break down, cursing the sky for admitting demons and monsters of the night to take away his only son.

The man rocked the cold form of his dead child as his daughter asked in an innocent daze, "Daddy? Where am I? What happened to Darrin?"

And at the edge of the forest the bag lady stood, the amulet she had found earlier clasped tight to her bosom, mute with horror. She had witnessed this horrible memory from the start and felt her throat tighten on words she had no idea on how to even articulate, but oh how the need to say them hurt her.

"You poor dear," she finally whispered, holding on to the amulet even as the memory began to fray and darken.

x X x

Her first awareness was not outside the realm of dreams, but where they were born. Sarah closed her eyes but could not block out the memory of pain and loneliness so devastating that her heart grew sick over and over again.

"How," she whispered… _How were you able to live like this for so long? _

She knew where she was, understood the full extent of how long he had lived and the length of his suffering. Realized that power always came with a price.

It had finally stopped, whatever it was that had buffeted her with memory after memory in what felt like seconds in this strange realm that existed and yet did not exist. There were too many, oh god, too many.

Ripples that stretched into infinity that would collide with another ripple, setting a chain of reactions that seemed set to occur no matter where the stone was thrown.

What Jareth was doing… breaking the decided path human children made in order to create new opportunities - that was fueled only by his conviction… his own optimism. Oh but the consequences…

And these memories, no wonder he could not bear to keep them. Even if kept at the back of his mind the sheer amount of them, why… they were a whole universe of pain.

Hated. Helpless in his own way. Though his strength formidable, the power to create worlds at his fingertips, Jareth was powerless to escape the role he created for himself.

She could feel it, a mere echo of what he had to endure. A sense of suffocation, a pressing in around her, their suffering, like a river, like a tidal wave, and she, slipped as completely and as quietly as one pulled under the cold surface of still water.

Human monstrosity, in small acts and slivers, made her soul cry out in frustration because for all their casual malice it was made even more terrifying by the ignorance of their childish actions.

Through Jareth's eyes Sarah experienced countless meetings where he was repulsed, exiled, threatened, hated, cursed, beaten down and backed into shadows. And he chose it, embraced it, because….because…

The sob throbbed through her whole body as her fingers grasped and clutched on jagged knickknacks and rusty metal. The junkyard slowly spread out before her in all directions, she hoisted herself up though it was agony, and felt the heat of her tears scald her eyes.

"Are we worthy?" she asked as a soft breeze bore down on her, shifting the dust on the broken shelves that lay beneath her hands.

Sacrifice.

Not even for a guarantee but a hope. A hope that the next alternative, action, counsel would be done not in hatred; that a certain fate could be avoided, and not just one fate but a lifetime changed and altered…

"Jareth," she sighed, resting her cheek against a tattered teddy bear, "Oh Jareth."

Was this truly what she had to do? Give these back to him? Remind him of memories he actively kept in an amulet because sometimes it was too much, too difficult to feel?

Have him clean up their messes once again? Make him suffer in silence when no one knew, no one cared, not one person outside this realm understood him or even wanted to try to understand him?

"I… I…." Her eyes clenched, _Alone_, her mind screamed. _He felt so alone!_

And she was the proverbial straw on the camel's back. Confronted with someone he cared for, and who he saw had the strength and power to look beyond his mask, who allowed him to not fall down and out of sight into darkness, a villain beyond repair… but saw him for what he truly was, someone who could choose to be a hero in broad daylight… She became the most beautiful, cherished person in his heart.

And such joy, such fierce devotion in him, he almost could not bear its burden; he would do anything - ANYTHING for her!

Stabilize a crumbling dream. Save her friends. Allow her to see beyond his self imposed mask. Gift her with magic.

Her potential could not be hampered by his feelings, he had to let her go, had to allow her everything life could offer!

Bright pain flaring in his heart as he parted from her.

It was too much.

But he did not want to know that somewhere in the world while he flew at night, pecking at his feathers on a leafy bough that she was growing up without him. Did not want to one day realize as he helped another child, that many years had passed and she was an older woman. Did not one night want to look up into the sky and realize that by then Sarah must have long past turned to dus-

His love for her sanctified him and the last night he visited her dreams he actually felt…powerful. Like he was something more than an instrument, like he was human.

"It was his choice," she gasped, curling in upon herself.

_HIS CHOICE!_ Her mind screamed.

He had wanted peace. Nigel said that in this realm Jareth could not dream and no harm would befall him.

She felt so tired. And surely Jareth was even more tired than she could ever feel. Was it kindness or cruelty to take away the only rest Jareth had ever chosen for himself?

Sarah struggled for strength but found only darkness answer, weary and confused, she closed her eyes and saw in her mind a scene play out - of burdening Jareth with knowledge that encompassed the scope of centuries. Not just a blur but centuries fraught with the nuances of daily details, textured by his loneliness and the hatred of everyone he had ever helped or tried to help. And he silently accepting it all as he takes her hand, becoming the next monster, goblin king, evil spirit, just accepting it without complaint not by his choice but because it was thrust upon him. And though it also would mock his sacrifice for her he would take that too unquestioning, because he loved her that much.

Sarah did not know how to accept that.

The wind brushed over her gently and left her there amidst refuse, and she aching in mind body and spirit, did not look up to notice the vapor stretching out over her head, like black storm clouds coiling, meeting, and parting through other dreams, and inevitably rolling towards a tiny island.


	17. Breaking Point

Faith Enduring

Disclaimer: I do not own the Labyrinth or its characters; they are property of Jim Henson, Lucas Films, and Dennis Lee. This fanfiction is not made for profit in anyway; it is only further proof of my love for the movie and that I have an overactive imagination.

This as well as most of my other grammatically challenged chapters was unbetaed.

12/12/09 - I'll try to keep this short because you didn't come here to read a blog. I am sorry for the hiatus. And I'm sorry if the story reads a little stiff, I'm a bit rusty. This chapter starts slow and gets faster. I wrote this in three days so take heart, I will not take as long to update with the final chapter. Yes, I have finally decided. One more chapter after this one…I think. From the bottom of my heart, thank you for reading.

Chapter Seventeen 

With Sir Didymous on the other side of the forest with the fireys and Ludo off looking for Ambrosius, the only sound in the midst of their camp site was the crackling of the fire. A shadowy figure stepped close, quietly edging nearer to the slumbering maiden.

Long fingers, withered from age, reached out toward Sarah.

"Stop."

Nigel paused, startled by the gruff voice and looked to find not only Hoggle awake, but holding the tip of a small blade between his thumb and index.

Hoggle edged backward against the stone, knowing it made him look less formidable as he trembled from fatigue but also knowing it gave him more leverage if Nigel were to do anything rash. Like blink or breathe in a certain way.

"Don't let my looks fool you," he rasped, "I once knifed the wings off a fairy five yards from my home, I can do that easily sitting or standing."

Nigel noticed that Hoggle said all this while staring at the exposed side of his throat. Calmly he retracted his hand but knelt in the dirt, not fighting back but definitely not backing down from the dwarf.

Hoggle's eyes narrowed. Not once did he think to call out for the others. This conversation was long overdue, and his fingers itched for Nigel to make a move, to give him an excuse to revert back to his old take all win all attitude. The dark side of him that had somehow been subdued when he embraced Sarah's friendship loomed large within him, and was only tempered by the need for more information.

"You lied," he hissed. Hoggle bent slightly forward, his features grotesque and wild as he shook, "I saw you! In all those memories, I saw you!"

Nigel was unreadable and said nothing as the fire continued to weave shadows behind them.

When Sarah and Hoggle were caught in the uproar of memories Hoggle had seen Nigel in many memories accompany Jareth into the real world, away from the void. Without the use of the amulet and without Jareth's assistance. How dare he? How dare the old fool put Sarah and his friends in danger!

"Goddamnit! Say something! Why the hell did you bring us here when you can magically move between her world and this one?!?"

The screech that tore out from his throat made him cough uncontrollably and Hoggle knew too late his mistake.

The blade shot out from his hand, the handle magically pulled straight into Nigel's palm.

Nigel hushed Deek as the bird laughed at Hoggle's hoarse curses.

"It's a good blade," Nigel sighed, "obviously well cared for." He carefully laid it down by his side and searched for the right words to reason with a furious dwarf.

It was inevitable that he would be explaining his motives; he had just thought he would have been having this conversation with Sarah instead. The strange turn of events had actually taken him by surprise, how could he have known that the amulet would suddenly draw Sarah and Hoggle into some kind of abyss of dark memories? Was it because of Sarah's inexperience with magic that caused the amulet to react so violently?

"To be quite honest, I once commented that I could no more travel here than she could. With the amulet she is now capable of every magical capability Jareth ever had."

"As did you," Hoggle sneered. "Was that your plan? The moment things went wrong you take the amulet back and high-tailed it out of here?"

The bark of laughter surprised Hoggle.

Nigel looked up, "You don't think highly of me," he smirked, "Of course I haven't given you much reason to, but you misunderstand my actions."

His attitude became more somber as he crossed his legs to sit down more comfortably.

"For one, when I said being here was not much different than death for Jareth I could not have been more serious. It was a decision he did not make lightly. He did this believing he was doing what was best for Sarah."

For the millionth time Nigel regretted the loss of his pipe, he missed the comforting warmth it gave him.

He watched Sarah breath unaware that anyone was speaking about her.

"Jareth, and even I at first, did not see the potential in her mind and strength of character. She can help him. He had only sought to protect her and her dream but I know she has the same resolve as he to help people. I never had any intention of rescuing Jareth. The only one who can make him see that he does not have to save the world by himself is she."

"You're telling me that her traveling to this void was a test of some kind?"

"Well, yes in a way I suppose. She has to realize that the magic she is gifted with is not only manifested by the amulet but aided by her resolve."

"That's not all there is to it." Hoggle knew it had to be more than just a test of Sarah's abilities. He could tell. He may never be able to win at cards with Ludo but he knew a poker face when he saw one.

Nigel frowned slightly, "Your astuteness is really a bit aggravating. Yes, you're correct. My plan was to test not only Sarah's resolve but her worthiness. I would not trust a girl who claimed to love Jareth but cried and simpered until someone else came and saved the labyrinth and her true love."

Hoggle looked up surprised.

He wondered if he could trust this old maniac to be speaking the truth when the whole time they knew him he always kept from them certain pertinent information. Was it safe now to tell him that Sarah did not have access to Jareth's magic?

His arm burned from holding his weight upward against the rough stone, but before he could slump down and argue further with Nigel a gust of air blew through the trees and broke the fire's steady burn.

It was a strong scent that instantly made his skin cold and prickle with gooseflesh. Like ozone, midnight, an unexplainable smell that could only prelude a heavy downpour.

"What the…" Hoggle looked toward Nigel but his eyes widened and he stood in such a manner that he knew Nigel too had no answers. He heard over the renewed pounding of his heart the strange inflection of Deek's whisper, "But it never rains here."

In the distance he heard Sir Didymous' bark of alarm and knew his friend was now running back to the camp site. Hoggle did not know why but found his hand reaching out and grasping the shoulders of the backpack that held the rest of the Labyrinth inhabitants and pulling it near.

Nigel raked his hand through the air, testing its texture and looked up distraught.

A thunderclap broke and Deek squawked. Suddenly the gentle pitter patter of rain ensued and it was the only sound on the island as it bounced off leaves, and trees, and the dark water surrounding them.

He breathed so hard that Nigel looked like he was on the verge of a panic attack.

"The amulet," he gasped, as if trying to rouse from a horrible, horrible dream. His hands shook as he reached toward Sarah and stopped when a short body abruptly appeared before him out of thin air.

She was hunched over, brown wrinkled rags plastered to her crooked body damp from the freezing rain. She looked up at him through rough straw colored hair and her eyes flashed bright and intense. Not a wasted movement, she leaped backward and grabbed hold of Sarah's wrist. Nigel's eyes widened as he caught sight of the amulet and before he could interfere, the old bag lady's face scrunched hard in concentration and she vanished, taking Sarah with her.

The damp gusts of air blew past Hoggle and Nigel as they both looked at the spot Sarah no longer laid, stunned.

The fire hissed and burned lower until it became completely extinguished as the rain dropped harder. It should have been impossible to see the pathetic wisps of smoke dissipate but the sky over them had substance now, nothingness filmed silvery gray.

He could hear the firey's cry of dismay as the rain would not allow them even a second of magically induced flames.

Nigel's hard desperate look crumpled into something indescribable as he sucked a deep breath. Sir Didymous, Ludo and all the Firey's stepped near them as Hoggle painfully stood, and the silence grew heavy and thick with unspoken questions. And then, so quickly done Hoggle was damn near impressed, Nigel schooled his features into that of steely determination as he regarded his fellow companions with a small sharp nod, as if he was saying to them and to himself, _Ok… ok then, if this is how it is done, then so be it._

Nigel gestured and without hesitation Hoggle brought to him the backpack. "Sir Didymous," he beckoned, "Wake every resident within, they all have the right to know what is about to happen."

Sir Didymous stepped up, took the bag into his paws reverently, knowing on some level why this was being done but still braved to have the man before him say it plainly. "Sir," he asked, "What is to become of us?"

"What this is," he said at length, "Is to be the last night of the Labyrinth. This is the fight that will determine if we live or die."

x - X – x

Sarah did not know how long she had lain there. All around her in every direction were endless miles of broken toys, trinkets and odd novelties. She felt weighed down, as if her new found knowledge of what Jareth had gone through made it impossible for her to stand.

In the distance the sound of thunder echoed.

Jareth was much stronger, older and wiser than she, she thought to herself, perhaps this was best. Oh god, Jareth. She should never have come, not if he had chosen to escape.

"Get up."

Startled, Sarah looked up to see the crouched form of the old bag lady, frowning before her, without the usual giant pile of belongings on her back.

"Wh-what?" Sarah could not quite understand where she was let alone how the old lady could be before her.

"We haven't the time dearie," she hissed, grabbing Sarah's arm roughly and pulling at her with surprising strength.

"But – but," she stuttered, feeling her head sway with echoes of screams and children taunting, of cool evenings and flights beneath stars and moonlight. "But I must leave. He wants me to leave."

Something whispered in her mind, and it struck her with such a frenzied feeling of sadness and intense fear that she looked round. _Hoggle? Did I just hear him say something?_

"Get up!" the bag lady screamed, and Sarah was pulled up and before she knew it they were running.

"Wait," she gasped, "No my friends! They need me!"

They ran and the land blurred beneath their feet as the sky yawned and darkened all around them. Smoother and less pronounced, she realized, the junkyard was changing in form the further they ran.

"It's not just you! He's changing this here land!" The old lady ran faster than Sarah thought possible.

Sarah looked upward and saw the sky a roiling boil of silver and indigo blue vapors. "He?" she screamed as the land became even more formidable looking. Sarah ran past broken trees and past the shadows of craggy mountains and dead underbrush.

They stopped in front of the entrance to a dark cavern. She couldn't believe how dark the sky had become and was amazed that after running at top speed she wasn't even winded.

"In there, listen here, you must make up your mind now! If you don't go to him it's all been for naught, don't you get it?" The old bag lady grasped the ends of the amulet in both of her hands and as she drew it over her head Sarah thought she heard an enormous crack like the splintering of glass.

"Hoggle," she whispered, as the bag lady clasped her hands together around the amulet without letting go.

"Child," she breathed, and her yellow eyes glared intently, "listen to me. Once I let go, you will be on your own. I can not stay within dreams, not without this, not like you or he. Find our king. He dreams Sarah! Do you understand? He dreams! You must save him!"

Sarah was speechless as the bag lady hesitated.

Then, as if throwing caution to the wind, the old woman quickly hugged her as she murmured, "save him and you save us all." She released her hands and vanished before Sarah could cry out.

x - X – x

"You!" he barked out to the firey nearest him, aggravated and tired as he wiped the water off his brow in a savage motion, "What is happening on the edges of the island?"

The air blasted in and hunched over the shivering creature as he shouted back against the gale, "The water is drawing upward, and the island is sinking!"

He had known the island was eroding at the edges but had not realized it would happen so rapidly. A white flash just a few feet yards away made him act. They were within the very heart of the storm. And the mist, oh god, how quickly the mist came and hovered near.

Nigel muttered, struggled to pull his arms up as if he lifted a great weight and suddenly drew his arm into a large arc. The rain ceased over them.

"Wha- you stopped up the sky man!"

"Idiot!" screamed Deek, "He's encased the land with magic!" And at that Nigel collapsed to his knees exhausted.

It was chaos, an atrocious mess. The storm grew larger and larger. It was not only rain and lightning, but a swirling maelstrom of black blue vapors of very dark, very warped magic.

Some Labyrinth natives stayed in the crystals too scared to leave, the goblins that came out of hiding cried and screamed for their king and for Sarah. Sir Didymous barked loudly for them to have courage.

Nigel was dizzy and nauseous, never having used so much of his own innate magic. A magical dome of that magnitude was damn near suicidal for one as limited as he, but what choice had remained? If only he had the amulet, if only Jareth were there to help.

Shouts and this time the island became bright and overrun with smoke!

Fireys in a panic accidentally set a large oak aflame when mysterious black vapors outside the magical barrier neared. The right side of the land exploded into color as the fire blazed.

They stood shocked as the trees' bark slowly started to crack and split apart from the heat; soon the tree began to lean, snapping from its base of clumpy wet dirt and mesh of rocks and spider webs to smack into the shiny glass like curve of wall.

Nigel's magic thankfully held but it shimmered all through the surface and a part of the tree seemed to meld into and slowly slide out of the protective bubble. And start to evaporate. It was as if that portion of tree was made of very dry sand and the dark vapors had blown it away into nothingness.

Now they understood. This… This was evidence of what the storm could do to all of them, since they - like the tree - were fabricated out of magic and a young girls dream.

"It will hold right? Please tell me it will hold!" screamed a goblin knight as he pulled hard on the reins, keeping the two legged dragon in place.

At that Nigel shook his head tiredly. He felt weak. He had given just about everything, absolutely every last drop of magic that could be spared at the last possible moment before the storm descended. Even he did not know how long the shield would last with so much malevolent force battering it, trying to get past to absorb them.

He had never seen this type of reaction in the void, but he had his suspicions. If the void always recycled magic to create dreams, then whatever was being created would soak and absorb them to fulfill the maker's landscape. It was inevitable that the void would break through his magic; it was no more protective than a house made out of paper. Or cards, yes a house made of cards. A house made of falling cards. Nigel laughed and knew he was hysterical.

Hoggle couldn't think as screams came from all over and washed over him like a wave.

"Is this why we were made?!? How dare you bring me out to see this! You should have left me in the crystal!"

"Where is she? Where is Sarah? How could she leave us?"

"I will not calm down!"

"Somebody save us!"

A small young goblin whimpered, "I don't want to die. Oh god I don't want to die."

"Sarah," He whispered, and Hoggle had tears in his eyes, because it was so different from the first time he thought he would disappear into nothingness. Sarah was safe then. She was in her home, in her world, secure and warm in bed. He did not have that assurance, if he left now… No he could not leave, he could not die; he had to know!

"This can't be happening," he wheezed as the tears fell. His trinkets clutched so tightly in hand that his palm bled.

"Sarah!" he fiercely whispered just as everyone heard the dome crack.


	18. Gladly Beyond Any Experience

Faith Enduring

Disclaimer: I do not own the Labyrinth or its characters; they are property of Jim Henson, Lucas Films, and Dennis Lee. This fanfiction is not made for profit in anyway; it is only further proof of my love for the movie and that I have an overactive imagination.

A/N: Omg, this was a mammoth chapter. I had a lot of scenes in my mind I wanted in here and I sincerely hope I did the long wait justice. Again, thank you everyone so very much for your kindness. You've overlooked my complaining, my poor grammar, and the long delays in posting. I hope this chapter can at least in a small way, repay your indulgence. I love you guys.

Thank you.

This as well as most of my other grammatically challenged chapters was unbetaed.

Chapter Eighteen 

The passageway stretched out before him steeped in inky shadows. He had moved slowly, feeling the air around him become more dank and cold. Glimmering spider webs disappeared as he progressed further into unknown territory, plastered with thick humidity that transferred to his bruised hands.

Jareth shook his head to clear it. Where was he? He could feel the hate and disdain the strange hands outside seemed to exude, breathing out from the metal iron gates above his head. There were many, each maybe seven or eight meters apart, giving the narrow dim corridor some clarity with its feeble yellow light. Brief comfort that as along with the light came the disdain and fear, and Jareth was a trapped animal beneath what felt like an endless supply of eyes as the whispers never ended.

_Monster._

_Demon._

_Goblin King._

A rock fell in the distance behind him. The tiny clamor caused his heart to hammer. Was someone following him?

He walked faster. There it was again. No, he wasn't imagining it. More rocks fell, and it sounded like hurried footsteps followed, obscured by the ensuing echoes of his frantic steps.

A soft random voice rasped, like stone grinding upon stone, "this is not the way. Turn back while you still can…"

Jareth ran, and snarled when his arm crashed into an uneven wall in the patch of darkness. The light was gone suddenly, and he had no sense of direction anymore in this cavernous realm.

He turned a corner and stumbled into an abrupt change of scenery.

_What?_

It was cold.

Silver moonlight skimmed the fast moving black water that flowed past the top of his boots as snow drifted all around him. Delicate flakes melted in the long blonde strands of his hair upon contact.

A silver mist ghosted from his mouth in a frenzied question, "Where am I?"

Confused, he looked around and saw he was within the heart of a dark forest. Standing within the center of a stream that flowed over rocks and ice frosted twigs; he shivered and drew his mantle closer in a panicked grip. It was… familiar. But no matter how hard he tried he could not remember ever being in this land.

He tried to calm himself and was about to step out toward the icy edge and remove himself from the rapid stream when he saw someone struggling in the far distance. It was dark but she was wearing a bright red cloak and for one second he caught a flash of the color illuminated by moonlight.

The water pushed him, as if to carry him specifically to this person. He struggled with the current, though not deep it was strong and the cold was making his muscles move less fluidly. Her back was to him and he could see she was struggling with the weight of something before her.

Foreboding rose in his chest and the hairs on the back of his neck stood as he was within touching distance. Her height indicated she was young, a child not yet into her teens. He reached out to turn her and assist in anyway he could.

The breath left him in a shocked gasp of white frost. Her eyes were intensely blue and conveyed only absolute hatred. Snow was piled on the shoulders and hood of her blood red cloak as if she had stood in the elements for hours. Within her arms were a little boy and his eyes were open, the lashes iced and his lips blue.

_No._

"You did this."

The hood fell back and her long blonde hair streamed behind her in a cold gale. Her eyes pierced him with its intensity. Shame rose and he wanted to cry out, beg her for forgiveness. He could not remember, but he was a monster, evil seemed to follow his every step.

_How? Why can I not remember? How could I have done this crime?_

She coiled her arm back but he did not resist, and her nails raked the fair skin of his face underneath his left eye. Mentally he winced and closed his eyes in his despair. The red seeped out and with his face dipped low it looked as if he were crying tears of blood.

The child's face seemed to move slowly, a sense of surrealism stole over him as the girl's mouth moved and he thought his crazed mind heard her say, "You have no power over me."

He shuddered and thought he was losing his mind. _What did you say?_

"They are here," she said as if she were answering his unspoken question.

And from the forest emerged the shadows of men. Fire crackled over their heads in bright flickering torches, so many, so many, their shadows stretched out and pointed to him accusingly, against logic and the laws of physics.

Their voices slithered out from all sides of the forest, cold and vapor like, stretched thin like a deadly hiss, "murderer."

Jareth stepped back as an arrow sliced into the cold water. He turned to run or fly if necessary but stopped.

_The girl!_

Rushing toward the whiz and sluice of water, he made to grab her arm. Her body stiffened with a horrifying thud and her eyes rolled up into her head as she fell forward into Jareth's arms.

_No._

Jareth's mouth opened but no sound escaped. It was as if his throat was paralyzed, frozen inside out from the cold and the buzzing terror clawing inside his chest.

The child disappeared within his hands, like an errant sigh, and the red cloak flapped wildly in his clenched fists.

It made no sense.

He closed his eyes and saw falling white silk and sheer cloth falling through space, staggered and ran as a clock gonged loudly behind his aching eyes.

The air lifted him and he finally found his voice. Screeched it in guttural owlish cries.

Arrows flew past as he tried to reach beyond the evergreen tips. The shouts did not stop and it was as if the forest bottom was alive with shadows and flames.

Jareth flew until his heart pounded his throat dry. A bright tearing pain ripped into his wing, and for one second he was pinned to the dark sky like a needle to a board, before he fell through frost and thin branches and crashed into a clearing devoid of snow.

x-X-x

It was cold. The wind came in eerie blasts as she closed her eyes and focused on feeling within her mind his magic and energy. Her mind traced the dark walls and cavernous pathways, and then there. A small flicker of light in her mind. Her throat constricted with relief. Finally, evidence of his location.

Sarah leant against the hard wall, sharp with its porous gravelly texture, knew her hand was cut as she felt a cold drop lace down between her fingers. She brought her hand up but in the process accidentally left one small faintly red finger print on the wall. The memory of her trying to navigate the Labyrinth swam through her weary mind, "_Someone has changed my markings…"_

No, nothing could mark where she had been, all that lay before her, all the paths and twisting unknowns became her only option. She trembled with fatigue, but she could feel his fear now, felt the walls almost breathe and move, as if alive with apprehension.

"What a horrible place this is…" she whispered.

Walls do not move and breathe but here anything was possible. Jareth's mind could bring to life any memory, Sarah realized this the moment the amulet touched her skin. Sarah recalled the bag lady's fierce panicked whisper.

_He dreams Sarah! Do you understand? He dreams!_

The bag lady had tried tracking her lost king by the magic of the amulet but it was futile. Jareth did not know her anymore. To him she was another outsider that would only torment him for his "evil" abilities. Too often she was within running distance from him only to turn a corner and see him wing madly into emerging shadows. No longer was he the arrogant noble king galvanized into action by human suffering, he had become a scared wild beast, only returning to human form when he thought no one was near or else collapsing from exhaustion. All his fears warped the magic of the underground and caused walls to emerge, thorny vines grow and black rusty gates to appear out of thin air and keep intruders from following him.

Without his memories Jareth did not know that he was in a world constantly evolving based on his fears and despair. And more importantly he did not understand who he was.

Sarah clenched her eyes at the unfairness of it all. Jareth did not deserve this.

She had believed Nigel when he had said he would slumber in peace, unaware of the passage of time and be left dreamless. But perhaps their admission back into the void was what had changed the course of events. She couldn't be sure, all she knew was that Jareth had left behind his memories and was unaware of the role he had played in the void.

Dashing from dream to dream in this realm had awoken some latent memories of his and without all the facts, without the proper context, Jareth truly believed he was worthy of the scorn and hate that was at the moment pulsing in every fiber of this savage manifestation.

If she stood very still and listened beyond her own heartbeat, she could feel this world he created unfurl into longer twisting domains. Whispered threats skittered across her consciousness. Malevolence tainted the air so that each breath was a lungful of dread and trepidation.

Sarah took another deep breath and pulled from within herself strength to reach out to him. His name rang through her consciousness like an echo fading down a long dark hallway. She swayed, nearly fainting as the amulet pulsed a deep bright blue, draining her energy but not before she felt him one more time. Sarah felt as if she entered into a trance and saw a vision.

His eyes wide in fear as he cringed from a crowd of shadows, running, suddenly flying, and then falling into a clearing under a sky of stars. It was surrounded by forest on both sides and then straight before him a cliff. Orange flames flickered in small bundles held high over shadowy figures as the mob gathered near. He was trapped.

She gasped, breaking the connection and though her body screamed for rest, she pushed her feet to run. The panicked pace echoed before and behind her as the amulet weakly illuminated which way to go in washes of faint blue.

"Jareth," she cried. She had to get to him. Because as her sore hand pointed out, darkness was in the labyrinth and in this world Jareth could be hurt.

She fell, the darkness had hidden a large block of stone before her feet and the wind was knocked out of her. Intense fear choked her as she hunched over, he was surrounded, and there was no way she could possibly run there in time.

She had the same magic as he didn't she? Could she somehow appear where he was, like that one time he had done to her when she was running around the Escher room?

But how? What if she tried and failed? What if she appeared in the same location as a tree or slab of stone?

She heard her name, gasped by him in the cold night air as if about to meet his doom. As if it was his last thought and he was about to give up.

She closed her eyes in terror, tried to fix on the feeling of his magic and before she knew it, she vanished.

x-X-x

The magical dome encasing the island held, though long jagged fissures had erupted on its surface in one loud terrifying crack. It had shocked everyone into stunned silence. Every second felt like the last as light snaps and crackles continued downward, enlarging the great broken lines that followed the slope down to where crystal met moist soil.

Shaking legs gave way and he fell softly to the damp soil, his rusty trinkets had fallen from his aching grasp. Hoggle placed his hand gently on one of the cracks in a daze. A tiny dab of blood smeared from his cut wrinkled hand.

A firey was about to shout at him not to touch the cursed thing but was jostled by a crying goblin and his attention was diverted.

All Hoggle could think of was Sarah's safety. His mind was foggy and his eyes swam with tears. Delirious, he spoke to the glass as if it were alive.

"My name is Hoggle…" he rasped, his hand clenching into a tight fist, only then to unfurl with his fingertips exuding the gentlest of pressure against the dark cold glass. "All my friends here need you to stay strong."

Through the jagged plane he could see the mist and darkness outside. Flashes of muted lightning illuminated the planes of glass surrounding them and everyone could hear a strange subdued rasp under the harsher beat of rain.

Black vines of dead roses and tiny needle like thorns softly grew out of the water and crept up the crystal walls, the added pressure causing miniscule cracks to branch out from the larger ones.

Throat tightening, Hoggle closed his eyes. He pictured his home, cluttered with papers and knickknacks. A warm fire crackling and a brass dented kettle, full of tea suspended in the fireplace. Sarah there smiling, visiting them in the underground, and Sir Didymous regaling them with some such new adventure. Ludo, too large for his den was outside, holding a delicate cup and saucer to the window for a refill.

"If you need magic," he whispered, his heart beating even louder now as his breath left his chest in one hurried desperate gust, "then take mine. Keep them safe."

His throat gave out, and he could not speak so he opened his heart and saw the sun rise in his mind. Saw the warm rays reach out and spread before him the land of the Labyrinth as night gave way to dawn. Thoughts of stone slab streets, and grass, fresh bread and cold ale filled his consciousness. He smiled though it pained as well as uplifted him as he recalled Sarah's eyes. Relieved and proud and something he couldn't quite describe as she quietly said, "I forgive you Hoggle."

A whisper of power moved across his feverish skin and was absorbed into the crystal which shimmered slightly with a faint coppery glow.

Hoggle hunched over as if in agony but really was overcome by all that he was feeling. He was a stupid small dwarf; a flea, a blip in the grand scheme of things that stole and talked its way out of shady deals. Selfish and greedy and whose sole purpose was just to talk a girl out of finding the middle of a maze. And yet he was more. **She** made him more.

The magic pulled out of the center of his chest, in dull beats synched with his heart and though his eyes were closed, his vision pulsed red and gold. No pain, just a growing seeping chill and so much gratitude; so much god damned love and thankfulness.

Golden wisps drifted off his skin and the portion of glass in front of him fairly blazed white.

"Let her dream live," he cried, "let the Labyrinth live…"

Nigel watched the strange happenings in quite awe. It was impossible, they were just snippets of a girl's fancy; they were pieces of her imagination for god's sake! He struggled to sit up and saw, as if time were working backward, the crack Hoggle had placed his hand upon move upward; leaving nearly a foot of clear unblemished crystal before his bowed head.

Sir Didymous gravely removed his hat and placed it over his heart as he approached his friend and comrade.

For once the noble hearted knight did not shout out his intentions as he usually did before battle. Instead he placed his gloved paw upon Hoggle's shaking shoulder and his hat drifted down into the mud as with his other hand he too placed it on the cold crystal shell.

Privately, his heart told of his great love for the land, his comrades and the noble lady Sarah.

The glow grew, and with the burden shared Hoggle felt less chill in the center of his bones.

One by one, goblins of all shapes and sizes overcame their fear of the storm and placed their paws and claws upon the shiny plane carefully and told of their own love and magic.

"She danced with us. She didn't let us pull off her head but she danced with us…"

"I loves cheeses…and bugs…and jam…or best of all, all of thems together, eatenz when the sky is holding up da moon."

"Please… protect the labyrinth."

"Save our home."

"Help us."

And behind them, most helpful of all, Ludo threw back his head and howled.

His song filled the air with faint magical vibrations and the earth they stood on hummed faintly. The dirt reached out to the stones and the stones sang, giving so much of their magic that they cracked and broke into smaller rocks, which still continued their song.

The Labyrinth rose in everyone's minds and gave them strength, as they gave of themselves to the dome, beseeching it to stand and keep them and their home safe until Sarah's return. The magic poured in from the ground and the warm glow suffused the surface up to the very pinnacle of the domes height.

The black vines withered and then burst into fine dust, unable to withstand the pure magic.

And when the glow subsided and everyone opened their eyes…the dome stood whole.

x-X-x

Sarah appeared just inches away from a tall oak. So suddenly did she appear that she fell, dizzy and spent, her hands raking the bark as her feet slipped between large gnarled roots. Down she crashed into foliage and peered through branches and the view of legs. A crowd of men stood before her.

Her eyes widened as she saw Jareth stagger from the ground, just before the edge of a deep cliff. Blood marred his clothes as he pressed his right hand to the left of his collarbone.

She heard a tightening sound like the twist of leather and realized the man before her was pulling back the rope, notching a fresh arrow. Fear renewed her. She bolted, shoving the man as she ran. The arrow zinged past Jareth's startled face.

_No, oh god no._

Jareth was going to be the death of her. He saw her run, ashen faced and terrified, towards him as if in slow motion. Just as his being there in the river killed the children, he was going to watch her die.

He staggered forward as if to forestall her by the strength of his will alone, or else stop the arrows pointing at him and thus her unprotected back. The strangers were faceless, all cloaked in shadows, phantoms that haunted him at every turn but it was the arrows he had to stop.

It was the first conscious act of power he performed since he opened his eyes. Ever since he awoke in this strange realm he had reacted impulsively, running or flying away, in no way retaliating toward the nightmarish forces that followed his every move. If magic was used it was done instinctively, without Jareth really understanding that it was caused by him rather than his surroundings.

The need to protect her changed his focus.

Desperate, though on the verge of utter collapse, he slumped forward pulling the last of his strength. His body tightly bowed as his right hand clenched, knuckle digging into the dry grass as if weighted by a reservoir of power. Though he had no recollection of how to use magic he just suddenly knew that he possessed this ability and he reached out, feeling his energy rapidly stretch beneath the soil. He heard the twang of many bows and watched her leap toward him.

_SARAH_

The name exploded in his mind like a supernova. All that was beautiful to him, the torment and balm to his soul.

A roar shattered the sky as the ground trembled and cracked when Jareth surged upward, his fist clenched heavenward and his body arced back, pulling between Sarah and the mob a thin sheet of rock and stone. Arrows snapped and splintered against the magically induced wall.

As if he were a puppet whose strings were suddenly cut, Jareth swayed, the dirt crumbling under his heel.

Stars burst behind his eyes, too much, it was too much. There was no power left and he began to fall, losing consciousness. Sarah's hands grasped the front of his shirt and she began to fall with him.

"Jareth," she cried, as they tipped over the cliff and fell into new darkness.

x-X-x

The bag lady watched them drift next to each other like lost dolls in an old bath tub of rainwater.

She had transported Sarah next to her king underneath the stormy sea and helped her within the complex realm of dreams but now that she was no longer in the same realm as they were, the waiting was horribly trying. It was up to Sarah alone to rescue his majesty, as Jareth was too tangled within the web of repressed memories.

She watched anxiously as the amulet pulsed in a rhythm that only made sense to those who utilized it within the dreams. They all floated gently within the dark water and the old bag lady wished she could have stayed in the dream world without the amulet. Not knowing what was going on was killing her with suspense.

"Save him," she murmured, quietly encouraging Sarah as she looked upward. Deep within the bowels of the dark water she could not see the stormy vapors rove over the fluid surface but she could sense it. If Sarah was successful the bag lady knew the storm would dissipate and it would be safe for all of them to swim upward, toward the last standing piece of the Labyrinth.

In the only way she knew how, she reached for their hands to show her support. Though there was no way they could know she was there the bag lady still hoped and prayed that it helped, that on some level they knew others cared and wished only for their safe return.

The amulet pulsed steadily showing no outward change but that didn't alter her resolve. Watching and waiting, tightening her wrinkled hands around their slack grasps, the bag lady continued her silent vigil.

x-X-x

It was the throbbing of his arm that woke him. He did not remember any impact from the fall but lying on his right arm caused a long line of burning pain to reverberate from his waist up to the bottom of his throat. His red rimmed eyes looked upward slowly and he saw that the darkness had bled into almost an Aurora Borealis of black, red, and indigo. Blocks of broken rubble floated in random easy discord beyond the floor and the warm breeze that wafted by carried the subtle scent of sand mixed with dry wood.

It wasn't exactly a room, but the large stone arches that hovered horizontally were so close to each other beyond the small stretch of floor that it gave off a sense of enclosure. Jareth sat up and the pain nearly crippled him.

Abruptly he recalled the young woman. _Sarah! _Her name was a bright burst of color and just thinking it both thrilled and agonized him. Who was she? Why was she here? He had to remove himself from her, had to make sure no harm came to her in its pursuit of him. What happened after the fall? Was she injured?

He shook, trying to push himself upright. Had to make sure she was unharmed, before -

White sneakers neared, he looked up and saw a fiercely determined look mar her beautiful young face. Her black hair shifted, blown by an invisible breeze as she tilted her head up while at the same time looked down arrogantly.

She seemed so different from just moments ago; his bewildered brain could not comprehend it. When she ran toward him, she seemed terrified for his safety. There was a moment even where right before he lost consciousness he had felt the warm weight of her pressed to him as they fell, his name whispered in awed relief.

Had she somehow realized in those lost moments while he was unconscious what kind of monster he was?

"Through dangers untold, and hardships unnumbered, I have fought my way to the goblin city, to take back what you have stolen."

He didn't think it would terrify him this much. But the moment she uttered those words he felt inside a calling terror. Of utter desolation just moments away, knowing that a clock would chime and his whole world would fall apart. He tried to crawl away, his one good arm dragging the rest of him over sand colored stone.

_For the wages of sin is death._

This was it, the way all stories ended, he said to himself. Sarah, the epitome of goodness would now banish him. Good would triumph over evil. Sweat soaked his skin, even if he understood it, oh god, he didn't want to die.

"Sarah," he gasped, clenching his eyes against terrible fear.

"For my will is as strong as yours. And my kingdom as great!"

"I – I," he gasped curling in upon himself, moaning. A clock gonged and the chimes caused everything, the air, even the stones, to tremor within the vibrations.

No fear, not a hint of hesitation. Her eyes burned brightly, "You have no power -

Sarah ran and slashed her arm savagely through the apparition. The horrible parody of herself broke into vapor, and disappeared like mist as she strode to Jareth's kneeling body. Silence. The moment the real Sarah stepped in the loud chiming vanished, leaving just the sound of their labored breaths.

"Look at me Jareth," and he lifted eyes wide and terrified to hers, and found no malice there. Her clothes were dirt stained and her face pale and tight with worry, but beneath it all, a sense of relief exuded from her as she gazed at him.

"Oh, Jareth," she said, and the look she gave was strange to him. It was sad, her expression soft as she brushed her fingers gently over his cut cheek. He recoiled, not knowing how else to react.

Hurt. She looked uncertain and slowed her movements, keeping her hands within his view so that he was not startled.

"Yes that happened," she explained, "but you don't know what followed. You saved me, you saved all of us, and, and," her voice wavered, overcome with emotion but he saw her soldier on, swallowing past the roughness, "you saved Toby. You saved so many young lives from mistakes, horrible decisions no one could recover from."

Jareth turned his head away from her tearing eyes, toward the shouts. A wooden door had appeared on the side of their dimension, just feet away within the darkness. Orange fire light and blocks of shadows flickered under the crack of the door and he jumped at the loud pounding.

"No, Jareth, don't do this," she pleaded.

_What? _He looked at her in confusion. _How was this his doing?_

Her touch did not alarm him as before. She gently turned his head forward though every nerve of his body was on alert, riveted in attention to the shouts of "Monster! Death to the Goblin King!"

"They can go away. You do not have to run. You have the power to control dreams and," she tried to think how to calm him, how to explain the situation quickly, "They may be part of your memories but they are not real, not at this moment. I am real, I'm here before you and I love you."

The shouts abruptly stopped and Jareth looked at her in open shock.

She leaned in close and gathered his face in her hands and touched her forehead to his. It was too much what he wanted, her touching him without revulsion. Jareth's eyes closed against the soft sway of black silky hair as it caressed his cheek. He could smell the lovely sweetness of her skin; feel her warmth and beauty cloud his mind like a heady perfume.

The very air between them seemed to be vibrating with magic as the amulet pulsed, encompassing their bodies in comforting bluish light.

He felt her brightness and energy enter, knit, and heal his shoulder wound and suspected that her power was greater, that beneath her initial fatigue was a reservoir of power unsuspected even by herself. Power to destroy, to maim and kill if she so desired. However… with him only the utmost care was bestowed.

_You are loved, _her mind whispered, over and over again, reassuring him that he was indeed not a monster and that she would never leave him.

Jareth's jaw clenched in emotion, how could he accept this love? He was a monster, tainted beyond redemption. But he was drawn to her light, this gentle care like a hideous moth to a flame. He wavered in indecision even as he drew her closer to him, clenching his fists in the sleeves of her dress shirt as if in agony.

"There is so much to tell you," she whispered, tears sliding down her cheeks. "But I will never force you. This amulet holds your memories, and I can give them to you. It will make so much more sense, you don't realize it now, but you're a hero. You must choose this, for everyone's sake you must, for mine as well as yours, you must know the whole truth."

Her small hands reached beyond the dirty blonde strands that framed his face and he felt her palms rest on the back of his neck, drawing their faces just a breath apart. In no way was she going to harm him. Being as terrified and confused as he was already, the entering of his mind would be too forceful. He did not know how to accept her magic, did not know her fully yet.

"I will not enter your mind Jareth," she fiercely whispered, "but…," and at this her tone softened, "you can enter mine."

Her eyes looked into his with so much desperate longing that he felt he could scarcely breathe. Green eyes. A bright vibrant green that reminded him of an emerald reflecting sunlight.

A memory flashed like the flare of a newly lit candle, and he recalled watching the fans part, wishing to drown in that color as she looked at him so innocently within the grim splendor of a strange ballroom. He chased the thought down the long empty corridors of his recollection but it eluded him again.

Yes, he believed her.

The lone memory of her in a beautiful ball gown proved it to him. Only snippets and bits of memories belonged to him, and he wanted, no dear god he needed to know the whole story. What happened to have changed her from cringing from him in a dark bedroom calling him the Goblin King to this brave loving woman who feared for his safety and called him Jareth?

He nodded agreement and she smiled, a small slip of hysterical laughter hiccupped out as if she was so relieved she could scarce believe it, as she nodded with him.

Tentatively, she kissed him and Jareth felt like he was falling into an even greater unknown. Slowly, sweetly, and without fear, he fell into her mind.

Sarah held him, her thumbs moving in small comforting circles on the back of his neck as he stepped into her mind with such care and hesitation that her heart hurt. She laid her mind open to him, not once pushing or prodding him toward any direction, but letting him see the truth of his circumstance in its proper context.

_How is this possible? _His mind asked, as he retraced their steps through the Labyrinth.

The memories slowly shifted and merged, unfurling a more cohesive whole as he laid twisting walls and mires in front of her all the while secretly rallying her on in her quest. Laid obstacle after obstacle but all the while knowing that her battle against him was for her and her brother's benefit. He watched Sarah's memory of himself fly toward the moon after her victory and methodically save Labyrinth inhabitants in crystal balls. Fearlessly she strode past a blue couch and into the void through a chalk drawn doorway in order to save him and her friend's homeland.

Sarah could feel Jareth's emotions become more confident, relieved and overcome with gratitude that he was not the reviled creature he had once thought.

Inside her mind the memory took the shape of her home, the dream within the dining room. Broken shards of the plate that had fallen from her hand crunched under the memory form of her feet as her parents vanish just as he appeared. Both she and Jareth watched as he, clad in white, reached out to her in the last shared dream and kiss her as if about to die.

Her eyes filled with tears as his feelings flowed in, remembering with the aid of her and the amulet's magic what had transpired before he walked away from her and into the void. So much hope, pain and love.

_I…I recall this moment._

Jareth's jaw trembled but his eyes still remained shut, afraid of severing this magical connection. He had never felt so complete, so in tune with another being. Hushed, reverent awe filled him and yet he could not stop the small groaning of his soul within Sarah's mind. Don't, don't he told himself. But outside the shared memory, Sarah laid his head down upon her shoulder, and softly threaded her hand through his hair in silent encouragement.

_So alone Sarah. So alone. How could I share that? When you are so radiant? _

He had wanted her companionship with such savage longing it frightened him. She was still so young, so full of spark and had so much to learn and give to her world. And he…he was an oddity. As old and everlasting as the elements. Let her live, his conscience screamed as he turned back one more time to look at her tear stained face just before he walked away and into the burning void.

_I wanted you to live in your world and experience everything that could possibly make you laugh and cry and smile. But I couldn't bear it Sarah. I couldn't stand the thought that you would grow old and die. I couldn't watch you die. _

And Sarah felt even beyond the words of his thoughts, the deeper, more shamed undercurrent of his belief.

_Coward coward coward_

"Never," she fiercely whispered, and Jareth blinked away the memories and felt himself drift back so that he was not in Sarah's mind anymore but leaning against her.

His arm had somehow during that time snaked around her waist, cradling her close. She listened to his heartbeat and turned her body, holding him near as wrecked blocks of stone wall floated in the air.

And even though their minds were not connected anymore, he somehow knew her thoughts, could feel her own magical thread of anguish.

She could live a hundred lives and never could she ever touch his level of magic or wisdom. She was a mere child but she knew what it was she wanted. Knew that what she was asking was in her opinion a sort of condemnation for him. That by accommodating her wish to be with him, she knew he would have to take up the role he had chosen for himself and live once again as the Goblin King.

Solemnly Sarah raised the amulet over her head and lifted it to Jareth. It was as if she were bestowing upon him a golden crown. Her hands shook.

"You are the bravest, most generous man I know," her voice was so low he wasn't sure if she had spoken aloud or if it was an errant telepathic sigh, "Jareth." And he heard her unspoken vow, unintentional as it was, as the amulet touched his skin connecting him to her. Felt the thought as if it were his, ringing like a ripple on a still pond.

She would depart from him if he wished. He now had all his memories and could now dream without harm. The request for him to emerge and take up the role of Goblin King would never be voiced as all she cared for was his safety. He could rest and she… she was willing to give him up. No more would he have to be the willing sacrifice to all the humans he aided.

Her chin quivered.

She made to stand. She was leaving him his panicked mind realized. He grabbed her hand in his and a vision burst into his mind, bright and intensely clear. It was similar to that time he first saw her, when the visualization indicated that her brother Toby would be hurt by her negligence had he not intervened with the aid of the Labyrinth.

The sun was high above their heads but the sky was not a blinding white. Instead it was a soft amber hue as if time in the Labyrinth were perpetually stuck at dusk. They stood on a tall hill watching a child make its way past the dead underbrush toward the stone gate where he would meet Hoggle. The warm air shook the thin black branches and under its well intentioned clatter he felt her fingers lace with his. They stood like that for long moments, sharing a love born from many years, where every movement and small gesture was communicated and understood.

King and queen, loved by all who lived within the Labyrinth. No longer was he a pariah, flying wildly in the night. Sarah was there, encouraging him, standing by him… loving him.

He was home.

The vision ended but the emotions still rolled through him, causing his heart to nearly burst. Love, trust, faith and affection, for each other and for the land they surveyed.

Jareth stared into her green eyes, acknowledging her gaze, her hunger, and realized he could live. Not in pain as before, but with her by his side, an equal who loved the world. Who had faith as he did in every human child when just given the chance. Who could give and take as he could, in life and with love. She was strong and she loved him… as he loved her.

Yes, oh god, he loved her. Had anyone ever given so much of themselves for his welfare? A wondrous joy the likes he had never felt before beat wildly within his chest. No, no one had ever loved him as she did. Any obstacle could be withstood so long as she was by his side.

Sarah gasped in surprise as she was quickly lifted in his arms.

He pressed his face into her throat and she trembled when he brought his lips near her ear and kissed the juncture between her neck and jaw. Sarah was shaking in relieved happiness.

_Thank you. Thank you. Thank you._

She wasn't sure who she was thanking but she was grateful all the same.

Jareth's eyes were clear and unclouded where moments ago he was lost in confusion and despair. He held his beloved and embraced her giving nature, her reckless headstrong personality, and her gentle smile. Drowned in the luxury of her warm skin as he held her close and whispered awed, "You've given me life Sarah. I was dying of loneliness and you changed all that. You gave me reason to awaken, to live again."

The silky whisper of his voice overwhelmed her head and heart and she was happily laughing and crying as Jareth twirled her safe within his arms. It was more than she could process, moments ago she was so afraid she had to leave him but instead he had chosen her.

All choked up, she whispered back tearfully, "I love you," then covered his mouth with hers. Jareth carefully let her down and held her close.

"Forever," he kissed back, emphasizing his promise, the extent of how long he would adore her.

So lost were they in each other that they did not notice the background slowly dissolve around them.

x-X-x

Sarah and Jareth opened their eyes to the depths of cold dark water and smiled at each other. The bag lady cried out in delight and hugged them both and could already sense the storm dissipating up above. The water started to lighten, as if the void was not deadly black unknown but just sea water; as if above them was a bright sun and its rays were filtering the gloom of the void. They still breathed underneath the surface which was still a little disconcerting but they all looked upward and gasped at the sudden feel of land that grew beneath their feet.

They slowly ascended, the land rising up to meet air and all three held hands excitedly.

Home. They were going home.

They gasped in fresh air and smelt the scent of greenery. They saw that not only was the storm gone but the sky was blue. It was actually bright blue, sunny and warm. Sarah shaded her eyes and saw fluffy clouds roll in the distance. Jareth turned at the sound of a strange groaning and saw small hills develop and rise from nothingness, dotted with small clusters of new forests.

"Did you know this would occur?" he asked and Sarah had her hands up to her mouth, head slowly shaking in shocked unreserved joy.

By making Jareth whole they were also truly bringing the Labyrinth back to life. The storm was not churning and looking for new magic to recycle into new horrors but had dissipated and what magic was already in the air recreated the land they all so dearly loved.

"Ahoy!" they all turned at the shout in the far distance and could just make out Sir Didymous standing on the shoulders of Ludo, gleefully waving his blue hat to catch their attention.

"Sir Didymous! Oh my god, Jareth it's the island, they're ok!" So excited she was going to jump in and swim there but a gloved hand snatched her wrist and she looked at him curiously.

Her heart gave a happy little skip. She didn't think she would ever get to see him look so confident and amused.

"Haste makes waste my dear," he gently mocked and with a snap of his fingers all three of them were transported to the little floating land. "Showoff!" she laughed.

Sarah was radiant! There was no other way to describe her. Her clothes were filthy, her face was still tear stained and grubby from earlier but she was just indescribably beautiful as she cried and hugged her friends.

Jareth felt so grateful to be there. To think he could find someone like Sarah, who could look beyond his role as a Goblin king and find someone worth saving.

There were howls and shouts, some small goblins threw hands of soil into the air and Ludo lifted Jareth, Sarah and the bag lady in his hairy arms in a giant hug of welcome. When he placed them down Sarah turned and found Hoggle smiling shyly waiting for her to notice him. She took his gnarled hand and before he could fidget uncomfortably away, she knelt down and enveloped him into a big hug.

"Thank you," she whispered, "for keeping them safe. For always being there for me." Hoggle grimaced but it was a happy grimace, and he patted her roughly on the back, not good with words.

Jareth found Nigel and helped the poor old codger stand. Placing both hands on his shaking shoulders he gave back some power from the amulet. Nigel breathed a relieved sigh of gratitude as his fortitude was restored; however, Deek only harrumphed and sneered, "Bout time you showed up."

"Deek," Nigel said in that warning tone he often enforced but this time Deek scoffed and mumbled, "Just great, we all have to live together with this crazy bunch." He then sneezed from all the dirt and bits of grass gleefully thrown into the air by a young goblin.

The sunlight warmed everyone and there was excited chatter as to where the rest of the land held in crystals could be laid in conjunction with the newly formed terrains.

Jareth saw a bit of shine near the edge of the land and knelt down to retrieve it. A smile graced his aristocratic face and he then tossed back his mane in good natured mirth as he lifted the lost crystal. He threw it high into the air where there was a soft pop and the sunlight flashed off hundreds of tiny shiny wings.

The fairies flew high into the air, shimmering color as if they were a horde of butterflies and everyone laughed to hear Hoggle's mock groan, "Now why on earth did you have to go and release them?"

x-X-x

Late into the night, after all of the stress of search parties and police inquiries Karen and Robert smiled in their sleep. Karen's hand crept into her husband's unknowingly. They were dreaming. Sarah was safe, laughing with her new friends and sending her love to them while in the background they both saw the strange gnome chasing shiny moths or something with a spray can.

Sarah waved her hand joyfully smiling. She wore a magnificent long sleeved red dress, and was holding hands with a tall man who wore all black clothes and wild blond hair. A crystal magically appeared in Sarah's hand and she blew it toward her sleeping parent's view of them. Tears slipped from both parent's eyes as they were so glad Sarah was safe and found what she had been looking for.

A shimmer glistened over the night table nearest Robert. When they would wake in the morning they would find a lovely crystal waiting for them that held an engraved parchment telling them she was safe and inviting them to join the Labyrinth should they ever feel ready to leave the world of mankind.

Sarah felt the crystal leave the Labyrinth and knew she was getting much better at the use of magic. Jareth slightly bowed in the direction where the crystal left, paying quiet respect to the parents of his beloved, hoping to one day meet them in person.

He felt her hand entwine with his and pulled her into a soft kiss, holding her close. Sarah looked outward to the rising sun, as did Jareth; both acknowledging all the many wonderful opportunities out there that awaited them.

Finis


End file.
